ipl-logo

Michael Levin Torture Summary

925 Words4 Pages

Will torture ever be acceptable? If there is a critical risk of loss of innocent lives, should torture be a way of saving them? Michael Levin conveys this question to our consideration in a pursuit to sway our viewpoint in his field of view. In this thoroughly written essay, Levin uses various illustrations to show how torture should be considered and would benefit us in the future. In Levin’s first example, he describes a situation where an atomic bomb’s position is unknown and threatens the lives of millions of Manhattan residents. he then proceeds with the topic of torture being permittable in this scenario and states that there are no grounds where this wouldn't be the preferred choice. Indeed, there should be line that we shouldn’t …show more content…

Levin depicts a plane heist in which if demands are not met, 300 lives will be lost due to an explosion. In this scheme, only the terrorist can defuse the bomb, and his requests are not able to be met. Levin expresses that we must do anything, even torture, to spare the lives of the innocent who have nothing to do with the calamity that they are now a part of. By using smaller numbers human brains can comprehend it better and start to fully understand the severity of the situation. When you see the number 1 million you might not see them as individuals, but as the number becomes smaller and more sensible, you start noticing the …show more content…

It was a theoretical circumstance in which a terrorist has kidnapped a newborn child, and the only way for the child to return to his or her mother is through torture. Levin asked four mothers and every one of the four mothers said they would comply with torturing the terrorist to rescue their child. I see this as an unfair survey. A mother’s love is unparalleled to any other feeling. A mother will do literally anything to save her child, no matter the circumstances. You see this consistently in murder cases, a person is convicted and proven guilty of murder, without fail the mother will fight for her son’s innocence no matter how much evidence is thrown at her. Levin then clarifies that he is not defending torture as a form of punishment, but as a deterrent for future atrocities. Levin writes one of the opposition's arguments that says, “Such practices disregard the rights of the individual” (2), and then combats it by saying that since the life of an individual is important, it is important to protect those rights from terrorists. When someone murders, they have forfeit their humanity and should no longer be given the same rights as humans. If a terrorist is planning on taking lives, they should be given the same treatment as murderers and no longer be considered

Show More
Related
185 Words | 1 Pages

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

Read More
1694 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

In " Torture's Terrible Toll", an essay written by John McCain, the topic of torture is highly discouraged. McCain feels very strongly that it should not be allowed except in only a very high risk and time sensitive situation. McCain makes six claims throughout the rest of the essay. They are that the abuse of prisoners harms the war effort, that prisoner abuse has a terrible toll and threatens our moral standings, that mistreatment of prisoner harms us more than our enemies, that we shouldn't have to compromise our values to get information, that torture is torture whether physical or mental, and that we should not compromise our values and lose the sense of honor that we hold. Basically, he is saying that the United States should show that they are different from other nations.

Read More
699 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
686 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
515 Words | 3 Pages

The word terrorist attaches to every part of this essay so that the reader will view them in a negative light and become persuaded to believe that torture is a necessary action to perform on them (terrorists). The word innocent also attaches to every part of this essay to make the reader become a defender to those “who never asked to be in danger”. This word (innocent) also connects with the word baby because whenever a person thinks about a baby the adjectives that are associated with it are helpless, unknowing, innocent, and unaware to the danger that surrounds them. This connection is made because the one thing any (moral) human being would care about over their own self would be their children. Levin uses this connection so that it is very relatable to the audience’s everyday life and the emotional appeal is able to have more influence since it is a scenario any

Read More
1573 Words | 7 Pages

I feel as if the pain that a criminal would feel from being tortured, without any moral or ethical considerations, is worth it if it saves a life that would otherwise be lost. One response to the Dirty Case is that interrogative torture, such as the technique used by the officer on the kidnapper, is not effective. Steinhoff argues that this is incorrect because sometimes the torturer does get what he is looking for as in the Dirty Harry case. To further defend against this response, Stein a One-Million-Pains-To-One-Kill-Gun argument. With this argument, essentially a person is being shot at by an aggressor and is eventually going to be hit unless they were to fire a gun with a 1 in 1 million chance of immediately stunning the aggressor to avoid being killed.

Read More
971 Words | 4 Pages

Levin provides life threatening situations to speak out to those who are more strongly opinionated. In this instance Levin states that a terrorist has placed a bomb on an Island and is about to detonate it. The only way to prevent the detonation of the device is adherence to the demands that the terrorist provides (Levin 359). While analyzing the viewpoint and the tone of the writer, it is clear that he is afraid failure to follow the demands of the criminal would lead to the loss of many lives. He affirms that in his personal beliefs this case falls under the jurisdiction to torture such criminals, since it seems to be the only way to save the lives of the innocent.

Read More
581 Words | 3 Pages

Torture Explanation The Case for Torture is an article written by Michael Levin in which he discusses why torture should be used by the American government. He makes his case by stating highly unlikely hypothetical situations in which torture would be useful. I agree with the majority of the actual reasonable points that Levin uses in the article.

Read More
1050 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
673 Words | 3 Pages

Levin believes it is efficient way to get information from terrorists. In his example of the atomic bomb in Manhattan, Levin makes the point that millions of lives are worth more than the life of the person who is causing the threat. He believes that torture should only be used to require information, not as a punishment for the already guilty. He also believes that the prisoner should be obviously guilty. When Levin asked the mothers if torture would be okay in the instance that they took their baby, would it be okay?

Read More
1032 Words | 5 Pages

Krauthammer’s main arguments to justify torture centers on the ticking-bomb scenario, which occurs when the interrogator only has a few minutes to find out the location of an attack or the place of the bomb (Moser et al. 2016). Krauthammer argues that there is no

Read More
700 Words | 3 Pages

Halle Buechler Mrs. Koch Church February 7th, 2023 Saint Telesphorus St. Telesphorus is a Pope who was martyred for his support and devotion to the one, holy, catholic, apostolic church in 138 A.D.. Saint Telesphorus was born in Terranova da Sibari, Calabria, Italy which is close to Calabria and near many different Greek regions. In c. 126 he became bishop of Rome, which lasted for ten years until c. 137. One of St. Telesphorus’ biggest accomplishment was the composition of Gloria in Excelsis Deo and adding to our mass ceremony (“Catholic Encyclopedia”).

Read More
962 Words | 4 Pages

In this article the author asks the question as to whether torture is a viable source in getting information. Since there is other moral ways of getting information. Some of these methods have shown to be more efficient. They also leave the victim’s mind intact. Janoff-Bulman, Ronnie.

Read More
1005 Words | 5 Pages

In Defense of Torture “Because It Is Wrong:” A Meditation on Torture Rules Should Govern Torture, Dershowitz Says What ethical arguments are being made? Torture is okay to use. Torture is wrong. Torture should be okay in some circumstances

Read More

More about Michael Levin Torture Summary

Related Topics

Open Document