Introduction According to International Rehabilitation Council for Torture, torture is defined as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for different purposes like getting information from him, punishing him as a suspect, pressuring him to get them to another person. Many governments or secret agencies use torture to get information from people who are suspected to have certain information that could help the government in any way. Torture has been going on in different nation worldwide but they deny its existence. People have completely different views on torture when it comes to being ethical. Some people believe that torture can be ethical since …show more content…
Discussion in Kant’s and Mill’s Views on Torture Mill believes in judging one’s actions according to the outcome or the consequence it brings. Therefore, when it comes to torture, Mill’s perspectives infer that torture can sometimes be ethical when they torture someone to ensure the safety of others. According to Lee (2000), the principle of utility defines general happiness. Therefore, if torturing one person result in the happiness of more people then Mill would agree that torture is useful and ethical. As mentioned earlier, Kant believes that someone is ought to do what is right without considering the situation nor the outcome it will bring. According to the categorical imperative, Kant believes that people perform certain actions to fulfill duties if it is right. Therefore, torture will never be an option for Kant since even if it can benefit for other people, it is still not the right thing to do since it hurts the person. Analysis of the articles Dershowitz
Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case
Another sad fact is that no one decides if the process is ethical or not it just happens (Einolf 102). Back in the Roman times, they were not allowed to participate in the act of torture (Einolf 107). Torture began being used quite frequently in the Chin century. Many people were still not sure what the difference was between punishment and torture. It was mainly believed that cruel punishment was pretty much teacher no matter what anyone said (Einolf 108). Even as recent as in 2004, many people thought it was unethical and inhumane to punish people (Einolf 101).
There are different laws over all countries that control by every government in the world. For those who is a criminal or a prisoner, their country’s government has different laws of punishment to punish them. Torture is one of them. The function of torture is to force someone to say something and as a punishment. Torture is unacceptable which I disagree on which it is an action of inhumanly.
Interrogational torture is one of the many tough ethical questions that people debate about in the United States. Is it right or is it wrong? Many believe that the United States does not practice intense interrogational acts such as torture. Many people have fought to abolish any form of torture while many fight to keep some forms of it to help keep the peace. Whether you believe in it or not, torture is and will always be an ethical dilemma that comes up.
Another reason why torture cannot be an ethically sound practice is that it would be impossible to know for sure what information the prisoner might have. If the prisoner only has a tidbit of
Torture falls under the category of cruel and unusual punishment, however circumstance can sway the attitude towards the use of torture. The most prevalent example in society, as well as the one used in the article “The Torture Debate” by Philip Rumney and Martin O’Boyle is terrorism. Based on the information presented in the article I agree that a legalized torture system should be developed under specific
Not only can torture do cruel things to the person receiving the affliction, but it can also affect the torturer. When a person gives torture, it damages the humanity of them, which means they will never be the same person again. When torture is used, the victim is treated as a “thing” rather than a person. The receiver is basically dehumanized to achieve the desires of the torturer. Although torture can be used to discover new information, it does not always work that way. Torture can cause inaccurate information to be provided due to the want for the torture to be finished with. In some cases, torture is not the
Since the time of Ancient Greece, there has been an ongoing debate whether torture should be permitted in the United States of America. Torture is define as the intentional use to inflict physical or physiological pain to control and gain advantage over an individual.
From the perspective of someone like Kant who believes that morality is absolute and torture is wrong, then it is never acceptable no matter what the consequences. Kant would argue that it is better to allow a 'ticking bomb' to go off and kill thousands by not using torture than to willingly torture someone, because as mere mortals we can never know for certain what the ultimate results of our actions will be - there may not be a bomb at all, or the man you have may not be the one who set it, or someone else may disarm it - but we can be certain of our intent, and thus we should never act with evil intent, which wilful torture certainly is.
Torture is a conversation that is spoken on the moral ethics of it. One side that it disregards human life and others say that it is necessary in acts of terrorism or war. I have the same feelings I do for the death sentence and general imprisonment. Deep investigation and complete objectiveness. Although, there usually isn’t a need for investigation for acts of terrorism, but due to the high amount of prejudice in our current time I would suggest to investigate it anyway just in case.
The reasons some see torture as a vile thing to do to another human could be as follows: It is against our 8th amendment of the United States, “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted,” as well the information gathered could be false if the detainee just wants the torture to end, so they tell the interrogator anything. There is the possibility it degrades the mental stability of the interrogator. This can cause them to become cruel and narrow sighted.
In the United States legal system, torture is currently defined as “an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control.” as defined by Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives (US Code, 1) Though this is a seemingly black and white definition, the conditional “…other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions…” have led many to question what precisely this entails. In other words, what are the lawful sanctions that permit such acts? Are they ethically right? Where is the line drawn as torture
Torture is a very sensitive and well-debated topic post 9/11, and the fight on terrorism faced by the U.S. and in many cases the whole world. Torture is defined by Merriam Webster dictionary as “the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something.” So this crucial and well-debated question has many opinions and sides to it.
Discussions concerning torture have always been controversial and upsetting. For the benefit of many, torture seems excusable and permissible when it is guaranteed to yield vital and necessary information. Even from an act utilitarian standpoint, torture is acceptable when its actions produce the highest happiness in numbers. But from a rule utilitarian perspective, torture violates universal truths and is not effective everywhere at all times, since it is not always guaranteed to produce the same result. This essay will argue against torture on the basis that it is unethical no matter what the situation is or who the suspect may be.
In the late 18th century one of the most influential philosophers by the name of Immanuel Kant introduced the third major ethical philosophy, Deontology. The basis behind Deontology is that people are duty bound to act morally by certain standards despite the outcome. Determining whether a person’s actions are morally right involves look at the intent of the actions. Like other ethic theories, Deontologist applies the golden rule of treating other people the way you would want them to treat you. Deontology can be broken down into three different theories: agent-centered, patient centered, and contractualist. Each branch of Deontology can be traced back in some way to Immanuel Kant. Can Deontology be applied to today’s society?