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Kantian Duty-Based Virtue Analysis

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The following is my assessment of how the various theories answer the question if a captured terrorist should be tortured when other methods have failed to retrieve information to thwart an imminent attack on the U.S.
The utilitarianism theory is an ethical theory that is interested in seeking the greatest benefit for the maximum number of people. Utilitarians are concerned with good consequences and the general good. In this scenario, they would say if torturing the prisoner would get information that would thwart an attack and keep many lives safe, it would be all right to do it. This would only hurt one person, the terrorist, and would give maximum benefit of the many lives that would be saved from danger.
In the Kantian duty-based …show more content…

Its goal is excellence of character and making moral decision and right choices. Virtue theorists were Aristotle and Plato. They emphasized the kind of person to be to live a fruitful life and fulfill human telos (end). Virtues help to become excellent human beings as opposed to vices that lead to dysfunctional humans. Plato’s virtues included wisdom, courage, temperance, and justice to be a proper person and society. Aristotle added to this list self-control, friendliness, justice, and others. Considering these virtues as character goals and using moral reasoning, those who believed in virtue ethics would consider it wrong to torture the terrorists. Also, they would consider what it would do to those doing the torture; it would affect their character and virtues. It would set a standard, a moral tradition, for society to torture. The only possibility to consider torture would be if it were the lesser of two evils and could be called “tragic …show more content…

First of all, it recognizes that all humans are created by God in His image. Torture therefore would dehumanize the terrorist. In both the Old and New Testaments, we are told to love God and our neighbor. The New Testament goes even further, as Jesus says we should even love our enemies. Torturing the terrorist would not be showing love to an enemy. In the O.T. God often commanded Israel to wipe out their enemies, but this was only if the preservation of Israel was at stake. In the N.T. Jesus gave us the Golden Rule. If torture is used, then those who do it become as bad as the enemy. Only those who were evil used torture. The tortured were the righteous. Christian ethics are based on a balance between agape love and justice. The guiding principle is what brings glory to God and a desire to do God’s will. God’s grace for man, as exemplified in the Father sending Jesus to save mankind is a prime example of Christian ethics. Although some Christians may advocate torture of terrorists, it does not line up with Christian ethics, and therefore torture would not be an option in Christian based

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In the article “The Case for Torture”, Michael Levin argues that the use of torture as a way to save lives is justifiable and necessary. Levin draws a series of cases where torture might be acceptable so as to set certain precedent for the justification of torture in more realistic cases. HoweverLevin illustrates three cases where torture might be justifiable.he describes a terrorist keeping city of millions hostage to an atomic bomb, the second, a terrorist who has implanted remote bombs on a plane and the third, a terrorist who has kidnapped a baby. torture and its consequences have been recorded in countries around of world over a vast span of time, and for a variety of reasons. Levin makes no such attempt to expand his article beyond

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Alan Dershowitz begins his article “ Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured” by questioning whether one person can be tortured to save the lives of many others. Dershowitz displays both sides of the argument before shifting the question. Dershowitz asserts that the question is not if torture should be used on a ticking bomb terrorist, rather the question is whether the torture is done openly under a legal framework or secretly and illegally. He then simplifies the conflict to the prioritization of values. While the argument that Dershowitz constructs seems to leave very little room for disagreement, there are ways in which to collapse his entire premise.

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Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement states “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” This is important because torture is brutal on the body and mind. The article “Torture’s Terrible Toll” by John McCain is more convincing then the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin because McCain provides more logical reasoning, he adds his own personal experience of being a captured prisoner during the Vietnam War, and he creates an emotional bond with people around the world. Through more logical reasoning McCain Argument is more valid than Levin.

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The Case for Torture Wins Torture is it morally acceptable? Many have debated this argument but I would like to bring up two main conflicting view points from Michael Levin, and Marzieh Ghisai. Michael Levin is a Jewish law professor who wrote The Case for Torture where he advocates where torture is acceptable in some circumstances.

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A man by the name of Henry Shue counters this argument by basically saying that killing someone in combat may be do them greater harm than torturing them, but killing someone could remove the possible other harm that

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The author believes that the thoughts of enlightened societies are unwise and ascertains that there are situations whereby torture becomes morally mandatory in dealing with terrorists.

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Applebaum has plenty of evidence to back up her claim that physical torture is not effective, and there are many other ways to obtain information. While the fear-encouraging and questioning elements are potent to many who are afraid of terror committed against them, but when the overwhelming sentiment of Levin’s argument is being compared to the logic and ethical points of Applebaum it is clear to see the superiority of her argument. Although Levin would advocate for physical torture in extreme situations, one must expect extreme consequences. Physical torture is rarely effective, violates rights, and damages a whole nation’s credibility. This is why physical torture should not be

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In the reading “The Case for Torture” written by Michael Levin, and published on the June 7th, 1982 edition of Newsweek. Levin argues in favor of torture as an acceptable way of obtaining information when innocent lives are at stake. Outlining three separate scenarios devised to make the reader reconsider the stance on torturer in order to protect the interest of those in the western area. The strength of this text is that the absence of reasoning does not strike the reader; he is overcome by Levin’s ability to break ethical decisions down to black and white. Levin begins with describing torture as “morally mandatory”.

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In the face of terrorism, one of the most pressing moral issues is the use of torture as a means of extracting information. The essay, “The Case for Torture”, by philosopher Michael Levin, is a persuasive piece about the morality and validity of torture in dire situations. To persuade readers of his opinion, the writer incorporates a formal vocabulary to elevate his argument, an informal point of view to redirect readers’ moral compass, and an informal and formal tone to strip terrorists of their rights. Throughout his essay, Levin uses a formal vocabulary to give himself authority on speaking about a controversial topic such as torture. As most western democracies, the writer’s audience, outright ban torture and regard it as cruel, Levin

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2016). Using this ethical framework to argue against torture, one needs to consider the violation of the terrorist’s rights. Utilitarians argue that under a scenario where thousands of people are in danger, the well-being of the larger community is more important than neglecting the rights of a single individual (Krauthammer 2005). The simple idea of taking away a person’s autonomy for the sake of others violates rights ethics. To comprehend the violation upon the victim’s rights, it is important to understand how torture feels, “Brian describes his body as having become an object… pain is the central reality; it dominates experience and expression (Wisnewski 2010, 81).”

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In his article he tends to use terrorists behind his reasoning for the use of torture which are solid reasons, but instead he could use actual statistics in those instances where he stated those opinions. By Levin saying that torturing a terrorist is unconstitutional but, do millions of lives outweigh constitutionality, then, could torture be considered barbaric? Torture could be a useful tool in the war on terror by finding out information that could be used to save innocent lives and most kidnapping cases. John W. Schiemann, author of the study on torture and a political scientist at Fairleigh Dickinson University, found that information gained from torture techniques when they are employed, they are found to generate even small amounts of valuable information within the practice.

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