Torture legitimized?

[Melodee]

[magpie]

This would seem at first glance to be an extension of the one aspect of the classical doctrine of a "just war." One of the tests of jus ad bellum is that the aggression must be in a just cause with a view of securing a good which outweighs the evil of the violence. In more modern ethics that would be similar to the argument for the greatest good to the greatest number of people. However, this becomes a very slippery slope, even in "just war" theory itself, when one considers jus in bello which regulates the actual conduct of such aggession. It is also problematical whether a "just war" theory which was originally intended for political entitities can reasonably be applied to individuals.

[Stanley Anderson]

[magpie]

[Stanley Anderson]

[Melodee]

[Melodee]

[Kolbitar]

[Melodee]

[jo]

[Melodee]

Hi Jo :)

These hypothetical scenarios are gut-wrenching but they suppose a degree of foreknowledge and even present knowledge of outcomes that no one is ever likely to have with complete certainty.

Melodee

[jo]

Well true :). I've been giving it a fair amount of thought the last cpl days and I still can't come up with a definite answer to your OP (Antti says he agrees with you that torture should NEVER happen .. personally I find it hard to say 'never' cos I don't know how extreme a circumstance could possibly get and how I might react).

[magpie]