...sacred. This is an ideal that the majority of people can agree upon to a certain extent. For this reason taking the life of another has always been considered the most deplorable of crimes, one worthy of the harshest available punishment. Thus arises one of the great moral dilemmas of our time. Should taking the life of one who has taken the life of others be considered an available punishment? Is a murderer's life any less sacred than the victim's is? Can capital punishment, the death penalty, execution, legal murder, or whatever a society wishes to call it, be morally justifiable? The underlying question in this issue is if any kind of killing, regardless of reason, can be accepted. In this paper I will discuss if the modern American form of capital punishment can be morally justified Opponents of the death penalty have a distinct advantage when arguing their point over advocates. Their advantage is the fact that taking the life of another is immoral, and if you remove all outstanding circumstances capital punishment is nothing more than legalized murder. This argument alone is not strong enough, though, because of the many circumstances surrounding capital punishment, such as the fact that the convict being executed has more than likely taken someone else's life. The first justification for the claim that capital punishment is immoral is the idea that it creates a climate of violence. If a society punishes a murderer by murdering them what are we saying about violence?...
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...Torture and Ethics Paper Jennifer Yow ASJ 532 June 16, 2014 Since -9/11, torture has been official US policy by George Bush at the highest levels of government. On September 17, 2001, George Bush signed a secret finding empowering CIA to "Capture, Kill, or Interrogate Al-Queda Leaders." (Lendman, 2008). It also authorized establishing a secret global facilities to detain and interrogate them without guidelines on proper treatment. In the same time, Bush approved a secret "high-value target list" of about two dozen names. He also gave CIA free reign to capture, kill and interrogate terrorists that were not on the list (Lendman, 2008). What is torture: (a) the intentional infliction of extreme physical pain or suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless person; (b) the intentional, substantial curtailment of the exercise of a person's autonomy (achieved by means of (a)); (c) in general, undertaken for the purpose of breaking the victim's will." We will discuss terrorism and torture, look at arguments for and against each practice, and ethically evaluate those arguments (Lendman, 2008).. If pain is meant to break the will of the person, one must ask when we might have an interest in doing so. Certainly violating the freedom through violence is not acceptable for citizens; I may not justifiably torture you to obtain what I want from you, be it your property, your behavior, or your ideological consent (Lendman, 2008). Also, the police may not torture to obtain information...
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...Is Torture Ever Acceptable? According to dictionary.com, the definition of torture is. “The act of inflicting excruciating pains, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information”. Torture has been here for a long time and people have gotten good and bad results from it. The debate centers around whether or not this act is humane and if it is worth the violation of civil rights that belong to every person in a civilized society. If we continue to use barbaric methods only to receive a mixed bag of results, is the implementation worth the abuse of fellow human beings? My goal is to prove that my research has found that torture is unacceptable in all cases. Torture is never justified because there are many reasons...
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...have very strong links with one another. Things that are usually deemed as immoral are often illegal. The Natural Law Theory states that law are morality are the same thing and that every legal question has a moral question that runs along with it. The theory is physically demonstrated by two circles with the centres overlapping to show that they are linked. The overlap displays a correspondence between moral values and law. For example, murder is illegal in all countries and it is also deemed immoral in all societies. Professor Hart said that there is no societal shared morality. He said that using law to enforce moral standards is unnecessary because society regulates itself and it is unacceptable to restrict the autonomy of the individual. His views were based on the John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) who was the founder of the doctrine of liberalsm along with liberal thinking and John Stuart Mill stated tat law lets people make their own choices, as long as they think of the consequences of their actions and do not cause any harm to others. Contrary to this, Lord Devlin said that morality and law are indefinitely linked and immoral acts, even when practised in private can weaken the fabric of society. He also stated that society should punish an act deemed as offensive against society and ‘norms’ of society. Lord Devlin thought that if the reasonable man thought something was disgusting or immoral then it should therefore be made illegal. The Wolfenden Committee was set...
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...The End of Faith vs. Jedi Order In Sam Harris’s novel “The End of Faith” I chose to analyze chapter six, A Science of Good and Evil and compare his views against the views of a Jedi. In this chapter Harris exposes his beliefs on what he considers to be good and evil, how they can be achieved, and how they should be dealt with. Harris breaks this chapter up into sections where he gets into detail on the aspects of determining good and evil. Harris and the Jedi have very little in common when it comes to their views, and that is obvious after a comparison of the two. Sam Harris begins this chapter with an introduction to an explanation of what good and evil is and each can be achieved. In our world today there are many different understandings of what is good or evil depending on what particular group of human beings you belong to. Among some groups of people, certain activities that bring people happiness are frowned upon by different groups of people. What makes these groups of people right or wrong in their understanding of good and evil? Harris understands the act of being evil or good as a result of causing either happiness or suffering. He states that everyone has an ethical responsibility, which becomes present as you find yourself in a position that can determine ones happiness or suffering. To develop an understanding of what is ethically right or wrong you should do it based on the views of the present, not views from the past or future. Contrary to popular belief...
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...heavily fortified compound in Abbottabad. On Sunday U.S. Special Forces killed May 2, 2011 bin Laden, in a dramatic raid. Although, torture techniques were used during interrogation to extract information that led to the mission's success. There are many Critics that oppose the use of torture on terrorist, saying that its both impractical ineffective. And the information given is often falsified. And those who perform these tactics are seen as evil and immoral. Or so the argument goes. Yet as a result of terrorist attacks many people believe the use of torture on terrorists should be used in order to obtain information to prevent future attacks. Critics against enhanced interrogation say that the use of these tactics removes us from the moral high ground. As well as the information obtained is invalid. and that the use of other methods can be just as effective. We have seen the brutality and utter lack of regard for human life through torture by the Saddam Hussein regime, and Osama bin Laden. What put us above these terrorists are our high values we put on human rights. That can be seen in the genive code of convention stating that the use of torture is widely prohibited under domestic and international law. If we disregard those rules and lower our moral ideals we become no better than the terrorists that we try to elimiate. Also Torture is considered by many experts as both impractical and ineffective. In May 2009, Obama accused the men and women of the CIA...
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...citizen for these amendments to take effect. Michael E. Cannon, member of the military service for over twenty-two years, noted that these amendments are not followed through when it comes to investigations outside of the United States, notoriously in the Middle East where countless infamous prisons torture prisoners daily, such as Abu Ghraib (Cannon). Many arguments are made as to whether torture should or should not be used during investigations. Torture, in some circumstances, has been shown to aid investigations or in some way break the prisoner. Americans feel secure knowing that they are controlling people from the same nationality or religion as those who hurt the nation tremendously a few years ago. Although the safety of United States’ citizens is a vital necessity and a right when living in the nation, it should not take precedent over the torture-free lives of others. Torturing began to surface in investigations after the events of September 11, 2001 when terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers. Since the tragic day, torture techniques surfaced in order to link people to terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda. “By a wide margin, 40%-58% of Americans say that torture should never be used, no matter the...
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...Torture Despite the strong commitments of the US legal system of torture, ever since 9/11, torture became an acceptable tool to be used. The practice of torture is difficult to address because there is not a concrete definition of what torture is. Thinking torture can be justified is not the same as thinking it is necessary. A survey posted by The Huffington Post, concluded that respondents were more uncertain about whether information gained through torturing suspected terrorists is generally reliable or unreliable. The survey also found significant uncertainty over whether the U.S. had used torture to track down Big Laden, as the new movie “Zero Dark Thirty” portrays. As defined by dictionary.com, “torture is the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.” However, there are many other definitions. Defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is an act where intentional pain is inflicted on a purpose. According to the Third Geneva Convention, torture is known to cause no “no physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever”. Who draws the line as to which specific practices are harsh enough to correspond to those words? Some have suggested that torture is worse than killing, and that torturing the innocent is morally worse than murder. The most prevalent forms...
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...The Effects of Hollywood Since the eventful day of September 11th torture has been a hot topic for the media, movies, and has even sparked debate amongst government officials. In the article, “Whatever it Takes” by Jane Mayer, she debates on the subject by comparing real life torture from an interrogators point of view and those of the fantasy world from which the producers and writers come up with for the hit TV show 24. Mayer attempts to influence her readers about the effects that the show 24 has on its viewers, which include young cadets, through interviews with highly trained interrogators. Mayer also interviews the show’s writers, producers, and actors to expose some of the main concerns in regards to the torture scenes in the hit show 24. Throughout the article, Mayer makes it clear that she does not agree with the way torture is being projected in the show 24 by starting off her discussion questioning the producer’s credibility, Joel Surnow. Mayer wants people to see Surnow as an arrogant and selfish person by quoting Surnow as saying, “People in the Administration love the series, too, it’s a patriotic show. They should love it” (Surnow Qtd in Mayer 1). Mayer’s point is that Surnow is very confident in the show’s popularity regardless of the criticism the show brings amongst some of its viewers. Surnow also bluntly tells Mayer that he is arrogant, there’s no denying it. She also points out many times in her article that he is a conservative and goes on to say that...
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...Torture can be initiated through causing some form of mental anguish or physical pain, usually in order to gain information from the person being tortured. Torture is usually punishment for a serious crime,but is usually for the purpose of extracting a confession from an accused person. Many wonder nowadays should torture still be used in this day and age. Torture has been around since the times of the Ancient Greeks and is still around today, notoriously used in criminal organizations but also utilized by various governments when dealing with terrorist. Once the torture of Jews at the hands of the Nazis in World War II became knowledge to the public. In the nineteenth century Public opinion changed on the subject of torture, but torture still continued to be conducted but this time away from the watchful eye of the public International laws were legislated into effect to prevent the use of torture such as the...
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...TELEOLOGY and DEONTOLOGY You ever heard the saying “the ends justify the means”? What exactly does this mean? Well it means just because you do something bad as long as the result is good the action can be forgiven. If one man kills another man he is a murderer. But what if the man he killed, killed others? Or done worse crimes? Was he a rapist? Possibly, and if he is then was his actions justified? The saying does say if the result is good the action is justified but how good of a result does it have to be? If you rob a bank and give the money to the less fortunate is that justified? How about killing one to save the lives of many? Let’s use teleology and deontology to help us figure this out. First let’s define what deontology and teleology mean. The word deontology comes from the Greek roots deon, which means duty, and logos, which means science. Which means deontology is the "science of duty." Deontology focuses on independent moral rules or duties. In order to make the correct moral choices, we simply have to understand what our moral duties are and what correct rules help us regulate those duties. The word teleology comes from the Greek roots telos, which means end, and logos, which means science. Which means teleology is the "science of ends." Teleology focuses on the consequences which our actions might have. When we make choices which result in the correct consequences, then we are acting morally. When we make choices which result in the incorrect consequences, then...
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...WHY PROSTITUTION SHOULD NOT BE LEGALISED Introduction The issue of legalisation of prostitution remains a highly controversial and debatable one. A lot many times the questions put forth demand to know whether legalisation will really stop the harm to prostitutes or the so-called ‘morally-secure’ society. A stronger element of agnosticism emerges in the proposals for legalisation when it’s on ground effect depicts a consternating increment in the very same issue it seeks to check- human trafficking. Total legalisation makes prostitution, the epitome of human rights violation, as much of an occupation as any other, albeit it remains clearly distinctive from other low-status and abusive forms of employment by the vice of being the worst one. Legalisation indubitably renders the economically and socially decumbent and vulnerable position of prostitutes- bolstered. It is true that the struggle for economic survival pushes people to extreme measures where in their choice of work appears justifiably consensual. But a deeper understanding reveals that the women engaged in prostitution for economic survival are in it by ‘coerced choice’ instead of a real one. In most cases, the prostitute is poor and traumatized even before she enters such a profession. Prostitution is a deranging and extreme form of gender discrimination. It not just affirms, but backwashes male supremacy. A violation in its most characteristic forms, legalised prostitution is nothing but an infringement to the...
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...Guantánamo Bay First-hand accounts of torture are described in the book “The Guantánamo Diary”, and the 115 page report on the “Tipton Three”, which was made into the documentary drama “The Road to Guantánamo Bay.” (Branigan) The evidence shows the harsh realities for the people who face judgment because of whom the United States is in war with at that time. Guantánamo Bay is a cruel environment for detainees, do these stories about the torture detainee’s face change the way people perceive the facility? It is something that is based on opinions and beliefs, but look at the facts, do people deserve to be treated like animals because they are of a certain religion or race? The stories about the facility are frightening and disgusting. Guantánamo...
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...around for over six thousand years. The followers of Christ have, and always will be persecuted. From the beheadings, to the ruthless and contrived fights that the Roman forced the Christians to participate in to now, not much has changed for them. Christians are still victimized both physically and emotionally. Christianity is said to be the most persecuted faith throughout the world. The cause of this harassment towards them is because of their rapid growth (due to their missionaries), and their strong belief system which often goes against foreign countries cultures and the common desires of people. Christianity’s beliefs are based off the Bible. They use the Bible for reference as to what is ethical and moral...
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...(White). The death penalty is executed in many countries whether they are developed, developing or underdeveloped nations. Many different types of execution are used around the world. The most common forms would be lethal injections, electric chairs, and gas chambers. In many countries execution by shooting, stoning, hanging or beheading are still used. One can argue that capital punishment has positive impacts, although statistics, research and professional studies show serious flaws. By using a system that values retribution over rehabilitation, men, women, and even children, are all put at risk of facing execution whether they are truly proven guilty or wrongfully convicted. The death penalty is unjustified because it is fundamentally immoral, ineffective in preventing crime, and sometimes mistakenly used to punish innocent people. The possibility of execution of an innocent citizen is reason enough for capital punishment to be considered an injustice. Since 1973, over 140 people in America have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated from death row due to the evidence of their wrongful conviction. (Amnesty International) “We all make mistakes” is a phrase often used and demonstrated through human behaviour. However, this mistake or error is very dangerous in the case of capital punishment. For example, in Florida 2012, Seth Penalver, was acquitted of all charges including death row after being arrested in 1994, for the brutal murder of three people. No physical evidence...
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