Verified Document

Torture Why Our Nation Cannot Essay

These logistical problems are only one source of error in Levin's argument, however. The idea of establishing guilt with certainty before using torture fits the utilitarian ethic; it ensures that any reduction in happiness or good to the terrorist is more than compensated for by the increased happiness in the terrorist's would-be victims. The other part of Levin's argument, that torture should only be used as a preventative and not a punitive measure, also fits into utilitarianism. Punishment and confession to past acts does not create nearly enough happiness or good to make up for the pain caused by torture. But these two conditions for the use of torture -- that it is practiced with complete certainty of guilt and that it is solely preventative -- cannot logically coexist. In order for guilt of a terrorist to be certain, the act of evil has to have already been committed, which means any actions against the terrorist can no longer be preventative. Even if a terrorist known to have committed previous acts of terrorism were captured, it could not be shown with any certainty that they knew of imminent future attacks until they had already occurred, and even then the terrorist's foreknowledge could not actually be known. Prevention and guilt are simply not able to exist at the same time.

The argument for the justification of torture in the "ticking bomb" situation is put somewhat more compellingly by Seamus Miller: "the terrorist is forcing the police to choose between two evils, namely, torturing the terrorist or allowing thousands of lives to be lost. Were the terrorist to do what he ought to do, namely, disclose the location of the ticking bomb, the police could refrain from torturing him" (Miller, sec. 3.2). This seems to suggest that others can be responsible for the actions we choose to commit. Such logic...

By this logic, torture could be used to extract confessions, because letting a crime go unpunished is also an evil that the criminal could prevent.
The breakdown of any system that endorses or utilizes torture is well noted by Jean Maria Arrigo. Basically, she points out that human society is not built on perfect rules of behavior, but rather that all human beings act out of desire and impulse at times, despite what logic or moral reasoning tells them is the right thing to do (Arrigo). This will lead, Arrigo contends, to the use of torture at times that aren't clearly permissible by law. Furthermore, the reliability of information obtained through torture has been shown to be unreliable, casting doubt on its effectiveness as an interrogation method at all (Arrigo). This adds up to no case at all for torture.

If there were any practical benefits to torture, the issue might more complicated. It questionable effectiveness alone makes it unethical to use in any scenario; the pain it creates cannot necessarily by any good that might follow as a result. Furthermore, opening the door to the use of torture will allow for much more egregious abuses. Even if the circumstances in which torture was permissible were completely rigidly defined, there would be abuses in the gray areas of the law. The detriment that this would cause to the justice of our society, and to others' perception of our nation, is enormous, and the greater good is served by refraining from torture in all situations.

Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Government and Its Role and
Words: 1157 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

In this case, individuals are entitled to produce goods and services to meet their human need instead of private profit (Wolff, 2012). Prevention for Power and Privileges under Social Contract: While social contract provides power and privileges to all members of the society, ordinary people are usually prevented from executing the power and privilege that they are entitled to through various ways. Some of these ways include the state's legitimacy claims

Government & Policy the Joyan
Words: 1138 Length: 4 Document Type: Creative Writing

Also, a very liberal strategy like the one that Mexico took after the NAFTA agreements is dangerous to a newly independent state. Extreme liberalization worked well for Mexico because a large and confident Mexico felt like it could benefit greatly from increased trade and labor transfer with the United States, without being pushed around in the agreement, and Canada helped to maintain neutrality. The Joyan Islands, on the other

Government Why Did the Framers
Words: 5873 Length: 18 Document Type: Essay

Republicans construed Obama as suggesting government bailouts for new industries, or at the slightest a more lively federal government function in generating or supporting jobs -- concepts abominations to a lot of conservatives. The Obama campaign countered the idea as political spin that does not replicate the president's feeling or meaning, pointing to full circumstances of the quotation as confirmation (Koch, 2011). Discuss the process of how a Bill becomes a

Government Contracting Process the Federal
Words: 2271 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

(Vancketta, 1999) The 'Changes' clause enables the Government "to make unilateral changes to the contract during performance, so long as those changes fall within the contract's scope." The Standard 'Changes' clause utilized in fixes price supply contracts allows the CO to make changes in writing to: 1) the drawings, designs, or specifications when the item is being specifically manufactured for the government; 2) the method of shipment or packing; or 3) the place

Government by the People Federalism
Words: 969 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Lobbyists may accost legislators to directly influence their vote on a certain issue. Lobbyists fulfill the important role of providing information for legislators' decision-making, educating and forming public opinion, and even contributing to and testifying to certain legislations. Lobbyists are mostly involved in the electoral process through the use of political action committees (Magleby et al.). Creating the Constitution The original framers designed the Constitution for ordinary people who were not

Government Effects the Government in
Words: 317 Length: 1 Document Type: Term Paper

Higher taxes for example relates to less income for basic needs. In terms of political ideology, it is obvious that the particular ideology of the government would affect the rest of the country. In terms of the United States, for example, the Republican government has a certain set of ideals in terms of issues such as abortion, religious ideology, and so on, that they tend to impose upon the population. In

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now