The recent publication of the Torture Memos and of the International Red Cross report on the treatment of high-level detainees in the aftermath of 9/11 has returned to national pro
The debate over the treatment of enemy prisoners, like so much of the increasingly overcharged partisan debate over the war in Iraq and the global war against terrorists, has occas
Torture invariably appears on the “never” list of the “forbiddens” of human politics. Genocide tops that list but torture follows close behind. There are good reasons for this.
This entry is in four parts. The first part concerns the definition of torture and addresses the question, what is torture? The second part concerns the defining features of tortur
The idea of “torture” plays a strategic role in our ethical reasoning, being often identified as the limit case of savage human behavior, unspeakable agony, and even political inju
Should political leaders violate the deepest constraints of morality in order to achieve great goods or avoid disasters for their communities? This question poses what has become k
Punishment does not serve merely the purpose of defending the public order and guaranteeing the safety of persons; it becomes as well an instrument for the correction of the offend
Catholic social teaching holds that something essential is missed whenever a human person’s dignity is overlooked. Every human person possesses a God-given dignity. But is this mer
Definitionally, torture is the intentional infliction of suffering on a defenceless person against their will. This may be done out of cruelty for the satisfaction of causing harm, or as a means to some other end. The former is uncontroversially wrong, but the latter has been the subject of moral debate with some arguing that it is permissible, and perhaps even required in circumstances of extreme emergency, to use torture to extract information or secure cooperation from someone. A familiar scenario of this sort is where a terrorist has information on the location of a bomb intended to kill innocent civilians (see for example the US film Unthinkable (2010)). Apart from those who hold that any form of violence is wrong, others who, though not pacifists, are opposed to torture in all circumstances argue that it is a direct intentional violation of human dignity and rights. Defenders of torture appeal to utilitarian considerations, and/or to the idea that rights may be forfeited.