Torture Has Been Practiced Throughout History

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

David Figueroa Eng. 101A Professor Stern 4/20/15 Final draft In conclusion, in discussions of torture, one controversial issue has been on the use of it. On one hand, the people against torture argue that it is cruel and unusual punishment. On the other hand, those for torture argue that it should be used for the greater good. Others even maintain that under extreme circumstances, it may be admissible if it can save American lives. My own view is that no one should be subjected to cruel punishment because it is not only illegal, unreliable, ineffective, time consuming, it also has too many flaws that could potentially ruin innocent lives. The definition of torture is any act, whether physical or emotional, or maybe both, is intentionally subjected to a specific individual or a group for many reasons. Most of these reasons that torture is administered is for extracting information from an individual or just for punishing him/her for a crime that he/she has committed or is suspected of committing. The use of torture can be used to intimidate a person to give information that may be beneficial for a nation. The use of torture has been used for many centuries. The purposes of using torture have changed over the years as well as the methods in which a person is tortured. One crucial piece that has been established that separates us human beings from barbarians is the prohibition of using torture. There are many reasons why torture has been deemed a crime now in society. There are

Torture has been a sensitive subject in our government and among the people of the US. The article “Torture is Wrong-But it Might Work” Bloche about how even though torture is not moral to some, it can still provide effective results because of advanced techniques and psychological studies. He goes on to say that many believe it is effective but others will say it does not provide adequate results in interrogation efforts. Senators such as John McCain (R-Ariz.) believe it does not help at all; however, other government officials, such as former attorney general Michael Mukasey and former vice president Dick Cheney, believe it does (Bloche 115).

The War on Terror has produced several different viewpoints on the utilization of torture and its effectiveness as a means to elicit information. A main argument has been supplied that torture is ineffective in its purpose to gather information from the victim. The usefulness of torture has been questioned because prisoners might use false information to elude their torturers, which has occurred in previous cases of torture. It has also been supposed that torture is necessary in order to use the information to save many lives. Torture has been compared to civil disobedience. In addition, the argument has been raised that torture is immoral and inhumane. Lastly, Some say that the acts are not even regarded as torture.

Every single person in America today grew up with the belief that torture is morally wrong. Popular culture, religious point of views, and every other form of culture for many decades has taught that it is a wrongdoing. But is torture really a wrong act to do? To examine the act of torture as either a means or an end we must inquire about whether torture is a means towards justice and therefore morally permissible to practice torture on certain occasions. “Three issues dominate the debates over the morality of torture: (1) Does torture work? (2) Is torture ever morally acceptable? And (3) What should be the state’s policy regarding the use of torture?” (Vaughn, 605). Torture “is the intentional inflicting of severe pain or suffering on people to punish or intimidate them or to extract information from them” (Vaughn, 604). The thought of torture can be a means of promoting justice by using both the Utilitarian view and the Aristotelian view. Using John Stuart Mills concept of utilitarianism, he focuses on the greatest happiness principle which helps us understand his perspective on torture and whether he believes it is acceptable to do so, and Aristotle uses the method of virtue of ethics to helps us better understand if he is for torture. The term torture shall be determined by exploring both philosophers’ definition of justice, what comprises a “just” act, what is considered “unjust”, and then determined if it would be accepted by, or condemned by either of these two

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.

Long time ago, the Roman emperor Nero realized that a conspiracy of some nobles to kill him. Nero arrested the suspects and made a threat with torture. In Europe, torture was implemented to extort confessions or to punish

Torture has long been a controversial issue in the battle against terrorism. Especially, the catastrophic incident of September 11, 2001 has once again brought the issue into debate, and this time with more rage than ever before. Even until today, the debate over should we or should we not use torture interrogation to obtain information from terrorists has never died down. Many questions were brought up: Does the method go against the law of human rights? Does it help prevent more terrorist attacks? Should it be made visible by law? It is undeniable that the use of torture interrogation surely brings up a lot of problems as well as criticism. One of the biggest problems is that if torture is effective at all. There are

Torture (Latin torquere, “to twist”), in law, infliction of severe bodily pain either as punishment, or to compel a person to confess to a crime, or to give evidence in a judicial proceeding. Among primitive peoples, torture has been used as a means of ordeal and to punish captured enemies. Examination by torture, often called the “question,” has been used in many countries as a judicial method. It involves using instruments to extort evidence from unwilling witnesses.

The top 10 most gruesome techniques were the Judas Cradle, Saw Torture, The Pear of Anguish, Breaking Wheel, Iron Chair, Head Crusher, Rat Torture, Coffin Torture, Breast Ripper, and Knee Splitter. Using a pyramid shaped “seat” with the point into the anus or vagina, victims would be tortured with intense pressure which was the Judas Cradle torture technique. Saw Torture is pretty self-explanatory; victim was sawed in half alive. The Pear of Anguish was a device that was inserted into orifices that had four wings that would separate and the handle was turned. In the Breaking Wheel technique, the victim was strapped to a wagon wheel and their limbs were beaten with a club until they were “broken” apart. The Head Crusher was a metal machine that would compress when the handle was turned later crushing the head of the victim. In the Rat Torture technique, a rat was forced into the victim’s body. Coffin Torture was when the victim was placed into a metal

Torture is an action of severe physical or mental pain, or suffering for a purpose, such as extraction of information, confessions, or for punishments. In the Middle Ages torture was used for suffering and to punish captured enemies. It involved the usage of instruments to force evidence from witnesses, criminals, and slaves and was only committed by a public official or another person with similar authority. In ancient Greece and Rome, torture was lawfully used, it was usually used on slaves to extract information or confessions. Later, in early medieval Europe, torture was used as an ancient test of guilt or innocence by subjection of the person who was accused to extreme pain (Rodley 1). Survival was taken as a proof of innocence, the suspect’s response to pain established guilt or innocence. But there were many methods used to torture people. In medieval times punishments were often for crimes. The people who tortured witnesses, criminals, and slaves, used methods like the rack, guillotine, mandatory bath, pillory and trial by combat.

Torture was certainly widespread across the medieval world. Its use was regulated by church and state law as a means of demonstrating guilt, of determining guilt and of exacting punishment, but its legality and application changed depending on any number of factors including country, date, church, state, ideology and political context. There was no one unified system of medieval torture: to some it was abhorrent; to some against the Church and to others it was a tool to be used by the Church. It had legal, ecclesiastical, moral and mercenary applications.

Consider the following situation: You are an army officer who has just captured an enemy soldier who knows where a secret time bomb has been planted. Unless defused, the bomb will explode, killing thousands of people. Would it be morally permissible to torture them to get him to reveal the bomb’s location? Discuss this problem in light of both Utilitarian and Kantian moral theories and present arguments from both moral perspectives for why torture is morally wrong.

Torture is considered to be a cruel and degrading act of causing severe pain  either mentally or physically to another human being  by using force to get them to confess information they may have related to a crime or wrongful act. There are many other effect ways to get information that can be les harmful to the victim. Torture is seen as an inhumane

Why is torture still occurring when we have freedom of torture, and degrading treatment? According to twocircles.net, torture is one of the most common forms of human rights violations. To me, the government is obligatory to protect our rights yet they use torture as a way for their own need. For example, f.edgesuite.net reports, that in 2008 US authorities held 270 prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, without charge or trial, and practiced “water-boarding" a torture that simulates drowning under former president George Bush's authorization. Article 5 of the UDHR says, "no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment", however, torture still exists this day for the sole purpose of beneficial needs