...current debate regarding torture being used as an interrogation measure stands whether or not forms of torture are being masked as “enhanced” interrogation techniques to extract information from suspected terrorists. The argument in Essay 161 is that waterboarding and other severe interrogation methods constitute as torture, and are not effective. Therefore, we should find alternative solutions to extract information. The argument in Essay 172 is that severe interrogation methods are necessary to save the lives of hundreds or thousands of innocent lives. Therefore, we should reject the arguments made by those against severe interrogation methods. In this paper, I will evaluate each of these arguments and furthermore say which argument is stronger with evidence. Enhanced interrogation methods refers to the U.S government’s program of systematic torture of detainees by the Central Intelligence Agency (and others) authorized by the George W. Bush administration.3 Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized suspect, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, and other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage, and death.3 Whether waterboarding should be classified as a method of torture or not since it was...
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...Throughout time, torture has been used to extract important information from people who are unwilling to give it. Some argue that it is a necessary, justified and effective way of forcing someone to release vital information they may not have wanted to, while others argue it is unjustified, unnecessary, violent and inhumane. Governments sometimes characterise torture as an indispensable interrogation tool for gathering strategic intelligence. However as highlighted by countless historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte and Greek philosopher Aristotle, torture is almost always pointless because most people, if put in sufficient pain, will say absolutely anything to stop it (Scott, 1995). Therefore this essay sets out to argue that torture...
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...11 Position Papers I f you like to argue, you will enjoy writing position papers and argument essays. The purpose of a position paper or argument essay is to explain both sides of a controversy and then argue for one side over the other. This two-sided approach is what makes position papers and argument essays different from commentaries (Chapter 10). A commentary usually only expresses the author’s personal opinion about a current issue or event. A position paper or argument essay explains both sides and discusses why one is stronger or better than the other. Your goal is to fairly explain your side and your opponents’ side of the issue, while highlighting the differences between these opposing views. You need to use solid reasoning and factual evidence to persuade your readers that your view is more valid or advantageous than your opponents’ view. In college, your professors will ask you to write position papers and argument essays to show that you understand both sides of an issue and can support one side or the other. In the workplace, corporate position papers are used to argue for or against business strategies or alternatives. The ability to argue effectively is a useful skill that will help you throughout your life. 221 CHAPTER AT–A–GLANCE Position Papers This diagram shows two basic organizations for a position paper, but other arrangements of these sections will work too. In the pattern on the left, the opponents’ position is described up front with its...
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...and her country to speak against capital punishment – the Death Penalty. On these talks, she discusses her experiences of being a spiritual advisor to inmates sentenced to death row, and explains what it really means to accompany men to their death, meeting the family of a man doomed to die by the state as well as the families of the victims. She’s a fervent critic of politicians and the legal system, discussing how and when the court system works and when it doesn’t. She also speaks on and of forgiveness. She also writes about her beliefs, latest is a book “the Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions” that came out in 2004. It is a book that delves into her experience of witnessing two men that she believes were wrongfully executed, revealing evidence that the juries did not see. It is the second book after her famous novel “Dead Man Walking”, that was adapted into a hit film by the same name, telling the story of Sister Prejean as she establishes a special relationship with Matthew Poncelet, an inmate on death row. While each story might be of slightly different dynamics and different characters, the message remains that before you make up your mind about the death penalty, learn all that you can about it. She believes that many of the people who are for the death penalty may have never actually reflected on it. In this paper, I will analyze Sister Prejean’s argument against the death penalty as chronicled in her books and essays, and provide a personal...
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...boarding and genetic engineering. Is water boarding a form of torture or not? Both sides bring a valid argument to the table. Is genetic engineering socially acceptable or not? Is it a form of acceptance in this new age society? I think that water boarding is ethical and is a successful way of getting a subject to come forth with information withheld, whereas genetic engineering is something which is unethical and immoral. Water boarding is a method used to extract information and is sometimes also referred to as a “torture method”. This approach has been under scrutiny since its introduction in the late 14th century. The method, originally called “water torture” or “water cure”. At that time period it was a way of water induced confession. Today, the methods have changed slightly but the objective is still the same. In today's military, our special forces use this tactic in their SERE (Survival Evasion Resistance Escape) training to prepare for any unorthodox treatment they would receive from enemy forces not complying with the Geneva Convention. The CIA also has used this and is currently using this as a form of interrogation of high valued targets in the Al Qaeda regime and other terrorist organizations. Since the beginning of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, this technique has been under scrutiny on whether it is ethical or moral to “torture” people. Christopher Hitchens wrote a short essay called Believe Me Its Torture. In the story he relates to the special forces community...
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...A Catharsis for All Henry Louis Mencken’s essay, entitled "The Penalty of Death," is a persuasive essay about the death penalty. The author does not attempt to alter the reader’s opinion as to the merits of the death penalty. He attempts to answer two questions most commonly heard in his day. First, executing a person is a terrible business and it “degrades” (Mencken) those whom-ever choose to administer this style of justice as a profession. He addresses this first question by simply agreeing with it. Most people would agree that the prospect of being the hangman is a vocation that would be most unpleasant. He points out that although it may be unpleasant, it is still necessary for society to support such a profession. The second question he addresses is to those that view capital punishment as a useless deterrent to crime. The author contends that those who wish to abolish the death sentence are in error if their assumption is founded solely upon the mistaken belief that the “whole purpose” of punishing a criminal is to deter some potential future crime. Mencken believes that they are “confusing [a] part with the whole” (Mencken). The future deterrent is only a part of the “whole purpose” of punishing a criminal. There are many more reasons to list: like revenge, justice, or relief just to name a few. Mencken's primary purpose is to identify the motive for this type of punishment. He identifies this motive as a catharsis, and he describes it as a "healthy letting out of...
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...founded our justice systems out of our desire for deterrence or retribution? This essay intends to examine both sides of the debate and take a stand in this debate. Arguments Against: The death penalty inculcates nothing in the condemned. They are taught precisely nothing because they are no longer living to learn from their wrongs. The penalty does not dissuade. Research has revealed that capital punishment does not dissuade other people from committing murder. People still murder other people in spite of courts still pronouncing executions. In 2012, for instance, the rate of murder in the United States was 4.8 victims in every 100,000 people. This means that approximately 15,000 people were victims of murder that year. Capital punishment, therefore, does not seem to be serving its purpose. The penalty is hypocritical. It is outlandish that a country that deplores the practice of murder commits the same act. Moreover, it is religiously wrong to intentionally kill another person. The Bible and other religious books condemn this killing and urge us to protect life instead. This is because life is sacred and precious. God alone should make the decision to take away the life of a person, even if that person has taken away the life of another. Furthermore, the Holy Books urge us to left vengeance to God. Subjecting the condemned to the death penalty could amount to subjecting them to torture, cruelty, inhuman, or degrading punishment. This would be a violation of the Constitution...
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...founded our justice systems out of our desire for deterrence or retribution? This essay intends to examine both sides of the debate and take a stand in this debate. Arguments Against: The death penalty inculcates nothing in the condemned. They are taught precisely nothing because they are no longer living to learn from their wrongs. The penalty does not dissuade. Research has revealed that capital punishment does not dissuade other people from committing murder. People still murder other people in spite of courts still pronouncing executions. In 2012, for instance, the rate of murder in the United States was 4.8 victims in every 100,000 people. This means that approximately 15,000 people were victims of murder that year. Capital punishment, therefore, does not seem to be serving its purpose. The penalty is hypocritical. It is outlandish that a country that deplores the practice of murder commits the same act. Moreover, it is religiously wrong to intentionally kill another person. The Bible and other religious books condemn this killing and urge us to protect life instead. This is because life is sacred and precious. God alone should make the decision to take away the life of a person, even if that person has taken away the life of another. Furthermore, the Holy Books urge us to left vengeance to God. Subjecting the condemned to the death penalty could amount to subjecting them to torture, cruelty, inhuman, or degrading punishment. This would be a violation of the Constitution...
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...Examine the use David Simpson makes of Ẑiẑek’s theoretical work in his study 9/11: The Culture of Commemoration. “The routines of commemorative culture, whether private or public, exist to mediate and accommodate the unbearably dissonant agonies of the survivors into a larger picture that can be metaphysical or national-political and is often both at once.” (Simpson 2) David Simpson’s study 9/11: The Culture of Commemoration published in 2006 focuses on a post-9/11 America wracked by fear and paranoia. The “war against terror” implacably positions the American nation against vengeful messianic Islamist “terrorists” who represent the other, the enemy, and are identifiable en masse as “the culture of terror”. The tragic events of the day known globally as 9/11 shattered any illusion Americans might have had about an ethic of tolerance operating both within and without their borders. But Simpson notes in his introductory arguments that while that day has been represented as a rupture with known reality it had a familiarity about it that can be traced over time to the influence of television and film, and was thus already embedded within American culture as a shocking explosive tragedy waiting to happen. Simpson states unequivocally that it’s time we turned to “those who speak for theory” to guide and lead us towards a new cultural understanding of 9/11, mentioning the Slovenian philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Ẑiẑek as part of a respected cohort of theorists: “The...
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...3/12/14 A Defense of Hedonism Many objections have been made against the theory of axiological hedonism. I will not attempt to respond to all of them, but instead focus on one of the stronger arguments, which deals with life trajectories. I will begin by briefly presenting the theory of axiological hedonism and then present the objection regarding life trajectories to the best of my ability. Finally for the majority of my essay, I will argue for why this objection is unsound and does not prove that hedonism is false. Axiological hedonism is the philosophical theory that is based on the idea that the only thing in this world that is intrinsically good for its own sake is happiness. This is different from the theory of psychological hedonism, which says that the only thing humans are physically able to desire for its own sake is happiness. First developed by Epicurus and later revised by John Stuart Mill along with many others, the theory of axiological hedonism uses a distinction between what philosophers call instrumental goods and things that are intrinsically valuable to illustrate its claim. Instrumental goods are any things in the world that are valuable because of the good things they bring about. Things that are intrinsically valuable on the other hand, are things that are inherently good for their own sake. Axiological hedonism claims that happiness is the only thing that is intrinsically valuable. The argument for axiological hedonisms is roughly as follows: 1. Happiness...
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...14 years. Though reconstruction occurred after the civil war many considered it just as painful as a war for many reasons. The northerners wanted to punish the southerns because of their ways of life and how they treated the african americans. My argument is that both the north and the south are responsible for killing reconstruction. The north may have wanted to end slavery and many other things that the south were doing but had given up on taking action. The northers weren’t so focused on fixing the situation and founded themselves being distracted from the leading situation. They also didn’t have great attitudes but seemed more racist which contributed to the end of reconstruction. “ Although political violence continue in the south”. The south would refuse any change that was...
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...J412 Communicating Nature Case Study 7 December 2010 The Great Ape Project aims to give apes the same basic rights to life that humans have. Paola Cavalieri and Peter Singer published a book in 1993 titled, “The Great Ape Project.” The novel is composed of different essays written by advocates of the projects who aim to discuss the ethology and ethics issues between human beings and apes. Cavalieri and Singer argue that we now have “sufficient information about the capacities of chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans to make it clear that the moral boundary we draw between us and them is indefensible.” The novel became instantly popular and eventually led to the creation of the self-titled Great Ape Project. The Great Ape Project was founded in 1994 and put into action six years later in Sorobaca City. The Great Ape Project is an international movement that “aims to defend the rights of the non-human great primates-chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans and bonobos, our closest relatives in the animal kingdom.” According to the project, the three main rights his project wants to ensure for apes include, the right to life, the protection of individual liberty, and the prohibition of torture. The Great Ape Project argues that apes deserve the right to live a higher standard of life. Studies have proven that chimpanzee’s are the closest relatives of human beings. Chimpanzees share 98.4% of the same DNA that human’s have. DNA tests also say that gorilla’s share 97.7% of the...
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...acceptance of the death penalty as an appropriate punishment for certain kinds of crimes such as first degree murders, there are still some people who argue against it on certain grounds. The debate as to the justification of the death penalty has raged on for a long time. On one hand, there are those who are of the opinion that the death penalty is a cruel punishment which is morally wrong and a violation of the right to life for its victims. Others defend their opposing views by citing the wave of abolition of other types of corporal punishment such as branding and flogging and propose that imprisonment should also replace the death penalty (McCord and Latzer 9). However, the death penalty has proved to be a punishment befitting certain crimes such as horrific murders as it is the ultimate punishment. It has taken many harmful elements off the streets besides acting as a deterrent for both the convicted criminals and other potential murderers out there. In essence, it has saved many innocent lives that otherwise would have fallen prey to the evil schemes of murderers. Indeed, there is no course more worthy than saving innocent lives. This essay presents an argument in support of the death penalty by considering its numerous benefits as backed up by ample evidence from credible sources. In order to build the argument, the essay shall also consider some of the opinions of those who oppose the death...
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...acceptance of the death penalty as an appropriate punishment for certain kinds of crimes such as first degree murders, there are still some people who argue against it on certain grounds. The debate as to the justification of the death penalty has raged on for a long time. On one hand, there are those who are of the opinion that the death penalty is a cruel punishment which is morally wrong and a violation of the right to life for its victims. Others defend their opposing views by citing the wave of abolition of other types of corporal punishment such as branding and flogging and propose that imprisonment should also replace the death penalty (McCord and Latzer 9). However, the death penalty has proved to be a punishment befitting certain crimes such as horrific murders as it is the ultimate punishment. It has taken many harmful elements off the streets besides acting as a deterrent for both the convicted criminals and other potential murderers out there. In essence, it has saved many innocent lives that otherwise would have fallen prey to the evil schemes of murderers. Indeed, there is no course more worthy than saving innocent lives. This essay presents an argument in support of the death penalty by considering its numerous benefits as backed up by ample evidence from credible sources. In order to build the argument, the essay shall also consider some of the opinions of those who oppose the death...
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...“So, is there life after democracy?” -Arundhati Roy Arundhati Roy starts her collection of essays ”Listening to the grasshoppers” with a remarkable and intriguing question that makes us stick with her way of thinking and look forward to startling revelations throughout the book. To her the democracy that’s been lauded as the largest democracy of the world, is a hoax, a sham. She draws reference in the earlier part of the book to the tagline in one of the posters of a Kashmiri protestant stating ‘Democracy without Justice = Demon-Crazy’, skilfully setting the tone for the detailed description of the ‘cunning, Brahmanical, intricate, bureaucratic, file-bound and apply-through-proper-channels’ style of governance. “Right now we’re sipping from a poisoned chalice- a flawed democracy laced with religious facism. Pure arsenic” The raw description and writing by Roy is the blatant truth or at least her version of the truth of the failure of India’s democracy. She sounds the warning bugle of the rise of the so called Hindu nationalism that’s trying to cast Islam as our national enemy. The most important example that she puts forward to support her claims is the massacre of perhaps 2000 muslims in Gujarat in 2002, in which the state government was allegedly complicit. She provides a shocking analysis of the riots of Gujarat and the fact of it being orchestrated by Hindu nationalist stalwart, Mr. Narendra Modi. In three nifty articles, she cuts open all the questioning method the police...
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