Torture Is a Moral Issue

Torture Is a Moral Issue
Author: George Hunsinger
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2008-09-05
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 080286029X

In this hard-hitting volume two dozen scholars, activists, military officers, and religious leaders call for an immediate end to the practice of torture, paying particular attention to its use in the American war on terror. Torture Is a Moral Issue begins with background material, including vivid firsthand accounts from a torture survivor and a former U.S. interrogator in Iraq. The heart of the book contains respectively Christian, Jewish, and Muslim arguments against torture, and the final part charts a way forward toward a solution, offering much principled yet practical advice. Included as an afterword is an interview with Darius Rejali, one of the world's foremost experts on torture and democracy. Contributors: Taha Jabir Alalwani William T. Cavanaugh John Conroy Edward Feld David P. Gushee Yahya Hendi Scott Horton George Hunsinger Adm. John Hutson Tony Lagouranis Ellen Lippman Ingrid Mattson Ann Elizabeth Mayer Marilyn McEntyre Gen. Richard M. O'Meara Dianna Ortiz Darius Rejali Louise Richardson Kenneth Roth Fleming Rutledge Melissa Weintraub Carol Wickersham

On the Ethics of Torture

On the Ethics of Torture
Author: Uwe Steinhoff
Publisher: Suny Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2013
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 9781438446226

The question of when, and under what circumstances, the practice of torture might be justified has received a great deal of attention in the last decade in both academia and in the popular media. Many of these discussions are, however, one-sided with other perspectives either ignored or quickly dismissed with minimal argument. In On the Ethics of Torture, Uwe Steinhoff provides a complete account of the philosophical debate surrounding this highly contentious subject. Steinhoff's position is that torture is sometimes, under certain narrowly circumscribed conditions, justified, basing his argument on the right to self-defense. His position differs from that of other authors who, using other philosophical justifications, would permit torture under a wider set of conditions. After having given the reader a thorough account of the main arguments for permitting torture under certain circumstances, Steinhoff explains and addresses the many objections that have been raised to employing torture under any circumstances. This is an indispensible work for anyone interested in one of the most controversial subjects of our times.

Torture and Dignity

Torture and Dignity
Author: J. M. Bernstein
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2015-09-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 022626632X

Torture and rape are only rarely considered by moral philosophers—because they are so indisputably morally atrocious acts and because their specific mode of suffering cannot be accounted for by reigning moral theories. By making them pivotal to the understanding of morality in general, however, Jay Bernstein’s intention is to throw into question the dominant schools of modern moral philosophy and to attempt to restructure moral experience and understanding on the basis of the formations of suffering they make salient. Morals, Bernstein argues, emerge from the experience of moral injury, from the sufferings of the victims of moral harm. For us moderns, morality at its most urgent and insistent is, finally, a victim morality. This can sound hyperbolic; but since all of us are potential victims, it turns out that this perspective is readily available and intrinsic to ordinary ethical experience. One of Bernstein’s pivotal arguments is that trust is a form of mutual recognition; that trust is the ethical substance of everyday life; and that understood aright trust is structured from the perspective of a potential victim of harm rather than from the perspective of a deliberating agent. This book promises to be a major contribution to moral philosophy.

Torture

Torture
Author: Mirko Bagaric
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 130
Release: 2007-05-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0791479676

Argues that there are moral grounds to use torture where the lives of the innocent are at stake.

Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture

Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture
Author: Fritz Allhoff
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 280
Release: 2012-07-24
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0226014827

A provocative philosophical investigation into the ethics of torture, The War on Terror, and making tough choices in exceptional circumstances. The general consensus among philosophers is that the use of torture is never justified. In Terrorism, Ticking Time-Bombs, and Torture, Fritz Allhoff demonstrates the weakness of the case against torture; while allowing that torture constitutes a moral wrong, he nevertheless argues that, in exceptional cases, it represents the lesser of two evils. Allhoff does not take this position lightly. He begins by examining the way terrorism challenges traditional norms, discussing the morality of various practices of torture, and critically exploring the infamous ticking time-bomb scenario. After carefully considering these issues from a purely philosophical perspective, he turns to the empirical ramifications of his arguments, addressing criticisms of torture and analyzing the impact its adoption could have on democracy, institutional structures, and foreign policy. The crucial questions of how to justly authorize torture and how to set limits on its use make up the final section of this timely, provocative, and carefully argued book.

Moral Dilemmas of Modern War

Moral Dilemmas of Modern War
Author: Michael L. Gross
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2010
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521866154

A practical guide for policy makers, military officers, students, and anyone else interested in asymmetric conflicts.

Ethics for Enemies

Ethics for Enemies
Author: F. M. Kamm
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 189
Release: 2011-06-30
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0199608784

Ethics for Enemies comprises three original essays on highly contentious issues in practical moral philosophy. F. M. Kamm presents powerful arguments about the concept and morality of torture; what makes terrorism wrong and whether it is always wrong; and whether the right motivation and the proportionality of harms to good can make war just.

The Prohibition of Torture in Exceptional Circumstances

The Prohibition of Torture in Exceptional Circumstances
Author: Michelle Farrell
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 295
Release: 2013-08-29
Genre: Law
ISBN: 110703079X

This book reframes the historical, legal and moral discourse on the question of whether torture can be justified in exceptional circumstances.

The Ethics of Torture

The Ethics of Torture
Author: J. Jeremy Wisnewski
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2009-05-21
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1441197982

Torture has recently been the subject of some sensational headlines. As a result, there has been a huge surge in interest in the ethical implications of this contentious issue. The Ethics of Torture offers the first complete introduction to the philosophical debates surrounding torture. The book asks key questions in light of recent events such as the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib. What makes torture morally reprehensible? Are there any conditions under which torture is acceptable? What is it like to be tortured, and why do people engage in torture? The authors argue that the force of the most common arguments for torture (like the ticking-bomb argument) are significantly overestimated, while the wrongness of torture has been significantly underestimated-even by those who argue against it. This is the ideal introduction to the ethics of torture for students of moral philosophy or political theory. It also constitutes a significant contribution to the torture debate in its own right, presenting a unique approach to investigating this dark practice.