Critique of Excuses”, author Michael Walzer shuts down four excuses that attempt to justify terrorism. In the chapter, “Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured?”, Alan Dershowitz defends his theory that it is necessary to torture a terrorist if that means saving the lives of innocent people while protecting their civil liberties and human rights at the same time. Terrorism can never be moral because it violates all “excuses” and torture is an acceptable tactic to save lives. The four excuses
The “ticking bomb” scenario refers to a hypothetical situation in which only by torturing a terrorist who knows the location of the ticking bomb, can the bomb be located before it detonates and kills many innocent lives. Dershowitz argues if torture is morally permissible in extreme cases such as the ticking bomb case, then governments should change existing laws in order to accommodate the use of torture. Dershowitz suggests the implementation of torture warrants, similar to search warrants, in
it should be allowed because of an unrealistic scenario, the ticking bomb. As well as the government, persuading the public to accept such practices such as torture, in times of panic. Torture is an inhumane act that shouldn’t be tolerated and should be banned from any occasion not only because it’s bad, but also because it is immoral. The article, In Defense of the Absolute Prohibition of Torture, explains the flaws of the “ticking bomb” scenario. Jamie Mayerfeld states “People tend to over look
the "Ticking Bomb" Argument”, they discuss the pros and cons of torture. Each article addresses the dilemma of the ticking time bomb. I will argue that in every case of torture, it is not justifiable due to ineffectiveness, counter-productivity, and overall, being inhumane. With the argument that torture is not justifiable in any case, even though Steinhoff argues otherwise, saying “under certain circumstances torture is justified” (Steinhoff 345). Using a careful examination of the ticking time
crime around the world makes this discussion increasingly more relevant than in the past. Since there is an increase in terrorist attacks, there is more research being done on torture techniques to prevent the uprising issue, and is used much more times in tense situations. The ethical dilemma surrounding torture is whether it is considered justifiable or inhumane. Many people believe torture is acceptable when there are innocent men, women, and children at stake. In fact, in 2013 a case study was
A ticking time bomb scenario (TBS) is a thought experiment that debates whether torture can be justified. An example is where you know a person has planted a bomb, that it will go off, and that it will kill a large number of people. That person is detained and will tell you the information you need to prevent the attack, providing you torture him. Should he be tortured? Generally, people seem to agree to torture the terrorist, and will set aside their moral values for the “greater good”. This sounds
over a half dozen countries it was found that there was a large amount of support for “justified torture” (Petersen). What this means is that a large portion of the worlds countries believe torture is acceptable in extreme situations. The ticking time bomb scenario is one of the most used arguments for torture (McCoy). Torture one person to save the lives of thousands? Or don’t torture the person, and thousands die. I would argue against the torture, but for now let’s look at what famous philosopher
the end, talking about torture is not about black or white and right or wrong, but it is more of justifying the means of its practice. Torture can be justified only to rare circumstances that have a certain degree of importance and during a pressured time frame. Justifying torture should be seen from the light of human nature that seeks for the least harmless outcome; inflicting harm to an agent as the mean of saving bigger number of people. Justifying torture is needed so that it can be well executed
In this paper I will discuss the issue of torture. More precisely, i will be looking at “The abolition of torture” by Sullivan and “The truth about torture: it’s time to be honest about doing a terrible thing” by Krauthammer. I will be arguing that Sullivan presents a better case than Krauthammer on the issue of whether a liberal democratic community ought to ever resort to torture, because i feel that Sullivan presents strong points and Krauthammer presents weak ones. I will begin by outlining the
terrorist groups, finding weapons of mass destruction, and stopping future plans of harm to innocent people. Torture has its positives but at the same time its negatives, but torture is a good means for finding what you want to know. Torture has been used for many years, dating all the way back to Ancient Egyptian time period all the way to modern time today. There have been multitudes of forms of torture each more excruciating then the last. Torture has been used a form of punishment in the past.
Mass shootings occur around the world essentially every day. Based on a 2015 study the mass shootings in the United States occur about 209 days out of a year and over half of the shooters are not legal gun holders. Question: Will terrorist attacks and mass shooting ever decrease based on our government leaders’ action? In the “Case for Torture” by Michael Levin, the author talks about the need to consider torture as a possibility to obtain necessary information from future terrorists that threaten
Torture is inherently evil and there is not place for torture or torture like techniques in this day and age amongst common people. No police force, military, or government entity should invoke torture as a method of interrogation or for any other common reason. Torture should not to be promoted. Yet, the survival of free innocent people must be protected. Information is crucial to this survival. When there is a hostile threat to a nation and millions of innocent civilians lives hang in the balance
“The case for torture” happens to be a notable work of Michael Levin, a philosophy professor of City University of New York. In many of his works, Levin has emphasized on philosophical aspects associated with science, logic and language. In the essay “The case for torture” the author tried to examine various circumstances to come to a conclusion that would indicate whether torture can be perceived as “just” in certain cases. In this essay, the author suggested that it is not quite black and white
These two sides correspond to two theories, utilitarianism (pro-torture) and deontology (against torture) (Cohan, 2007, p. 1588). A variety of arguments have been constructed for the utilitarian view, such as cost-benefit analysis, hypothetical bomb scenarios,
Imagine being forced to put on a heavy iron boot and having molten lead poured into it, burning your foot, and melting the skin (Perl). This is what the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay had to deal with often. Guantanamo Bay, aka GITMO, which holds terrorists, is a prison located in Cuba on the Caribbean Islands. Although Barack Obama ordered the prison to be closed, due to difficulties with moving all the prisoners, the closure of GITMO was never followed through with. Built in 1903, there have been
Torture is a technique that has been used for centuries, starting in the middle ages. The case for torture has been and always will be a highly debatable topic. Some may ask is the case for torture really necessary in some cases? Will the United States be subject to terrorist attacks if torture is avoided? Is there really a happy medium? Many argue that without torture the United States would not be as strong of a Country today. Others believe that torture has done nothing but cause the United States
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
The best exemplification of that argument adopted by people sharing this view is a hypothetical scenario known as the “ticking-bomb”; whereby an interrogator is informed that there is an imminent attack threatening a huge population of people and there is clear evidence that the person being interrogated is withholding vital information regarding the place of the bomb. What is more, the interrogator is proficient at torture techniques and through causing physical and psychological
Standards of international law require countries to refrain from using torture. Torture can sometimes bring about right information, but usually the information is mixed with false or incomplete in purpose. The author also arguments that even if the information is accurate, there are no curranty that the information could have been obtained without torture. Because torture is usually done in secret, there is no direct research on the matter. Nevertheless the criminal justice system offers evidence
heighten emotion, imaginative scenes and other types of shots that will also be discussed. Through these techniques mood and emotion is created. Time controls every movement, decision and consequence in our life. It is this irreversible force that paths our future in a merciless, unknown direction. The opening scene in the film focuses