Ethics of Torture

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Recommended: Torture as a moral wrong

Torture is permissible?
Torture is an unorthodox method that has been used often during the war, and it is a controversial subject about whether torture is permissible or not since 911 (“Counterterrorism Since 9/11: Evaluating the Efficacy of Controversial Tactics”). The exercise of torture tends to begin with acquiring information to prevent opponents to start the attack, and there are many critics that believe that torture is permissible at least during extreme situations (“Torture and the Necessity Doctrine”). According to a BCC survey of views on torturing prisoners in October 2006, more than one out of three people in nine countries considered that torture is somewhat permissible if it can save lives (“Is torture ever justified?”). Moreover, two ethical theories have been used under the debate of whether torture is right or wrong: deontology and utilitarianism (“Torture and the Necessity Doctrine”). In this paper, I will prove that Kantian theory does offer a compelling argument to prove the use of torture, in that Bentham and Mill agree that torture is permissible during certain situations.
Utilitarianism is a theory based on utilizing moral rules to measure the amount of happiness and unhappiness in order to decide whether the action is considered good or bad (Birsch 77). According to Birsch, Jeremy Bentham is a philosopher that focuses his ethical theory on act utilitarianism, and he believes that good actions are when the amount of pleasure is more than the amount of pain that is affected by others (Birsch 77). In addition, Mill believes that it is ethical to have a bad intention of doing certain things with good consequences, but it is unethical to have good intentions with bad consequences (Ethics Lecture on Februar...

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...ounterterrorism since 9/11: Evaluating the Efficacy of Controversial Tactics.” TheBreakThrough.Org. March 14, 2011. Retrieved from March 25, 2014. Web.
Birsch Douglas. “Introduction to Ethical Theories: A Procedural Approach.” Waveland Press, Inc. 2014. Print.
Campisi, Joe. “Ethics Lecture on February 18 2014: Utilitarianism.” Marist College: Introduction to Ethics. February 18, 2014.
Cohan, John Alan. “Torture and the Necessity Doctrine.” Valparaiso University Law Review. Volume 41, Number 3 2007. Retrieved from March 25, 2014. PDF.
“Philosophy 302: Ethics the Hedonistic Calculus.” Philosophy.lander.eud. 2009. Retrieved from March 25, 2013. Web. < http://philosophy.lander.edu/ethics/calculus.html>

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