181.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
19 >
Issue: 2
Larry May
Torturing Detainees During Interrogation
abstract |
view |
rights & permissions
Despite the fact that torture of prisoners has been condemned by every major document in international law, it has seemed to some, especially those in the Bush Administration, that terrorism creates a special case for how prisoners are to be treated. The prisoner may belong to a “cell” of those who have committed themselves to the use of tactics that risk horrible consequences for many innocent people. The prisoner may have information about future attacks on civilian populations that could, if learned, be instrumental in the prevention of these attacks. Nonetheless, I will argue that normally even suspected international terrorists should be treated humanely in that they are not subject to torture when captured and imprisoned. Our humanity demands as much.I will ask what it is about humanity that might restrict or prohibit the use of torture and other forms of physical coercion in the treatment of prisoners. I will attempt to explain why torture has been so roundly condemned and yet why torture, especially in ticking time-bomb cases, has been seen as justifiable. In section 1, I argue that humane treatment should be seen as the centerpiece of international humanitarian law. In section 2, I discuss a 1999 case from Israel concerning soldiers who committed torture to obtain information from suspected terrorists in the Occupied Territories. In section 3, I discuss how the principle of proportionality complicates the picture, and end with some conclusions about what restrictions should be recognized in times of war, concerning what are sometimes called “the laws of humanity.”
|
|
|
182.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
19 >
Issue: 2
Julia Driver
The Reconciliation Project in Ethics:
Comments on James Sterba’s The Triumph of Practice over Theory in Ethics
|
|
|
183.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Thomas Arner, Judith Slein
Philosophy and Data Processing:
An Alternative to the Teaching Profession
|
|
|
184.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Kai Nielsen
On the Need for ‘Moral Experts’:
A Test Case for Practical Ethics
|
|
|
185.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
James M. Dubik
Social Expectations, Moral Obligations, and Command Responsibility
|
|
|
186.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Archie J. Bahm
Improving Applied Ethics
|
|
|
187.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
John Ladd
Corporate Mythology and Individual Responsibility
|
|
|
188.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Miron Mushkat
Human Capital Losses Resulting from War as a Policy Analysis Problem
|
|
|
189.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Kenneth E. Goodpaster
Testing Morality in Organizations
|
|
|
190.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Janice K. Knight
With Liberty and Justice for Some
|
|
|
191.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 1
Herman Gadon
Termination-at-Will:
A Test of Morality in Organizations
|
|
|
192.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
John E. Hare
Philosophy in the Legislative Process
|
|
|
193.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Mark Sagoff
Paternalism and the Regulation of Drugs
|
|
|
194.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Donald Scherer
The Human Quest for the Good Life
|
|
|
195.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Maxine Morphis
Creativity and AI:
The Creative Products of Man and Machine
|
|
|
196.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
T. R. Girill
Philosophy’s Relevance to Technical Writing
|
|
|
197.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Tal Scriven
Utility, Autonomy and Drug Regulation
|
|
|
198.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Bert Spilker
Myths and Misconceptions about Drug Industry Ethics
|
|
|
199.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Michael D. Bayles
Brand Name Extortionists, Intellectual Prostitutes, and Generic Free Riders
|
|
|
200.
|
International Journal of Applied Philosophy:
Volume >
2 >
Issue: 2
Charles W. Harvey
On the Experience of Historical Objects
|
|
|