Rhonda Dudley
Take home test 1 Question
|A situation arises in which it is possible (though not a guaranteed outcome) that using coercive and violent means to extract | |
|information from a person in the state's custody may yield information that may save the lives of dozens or even hundreds of | |
|citizens. | |
|Should the state employ torture as a method of obtaining information for the sake of protecting its citizens? | |

Immanuel Kant’s philosophy is driven by his passion and concern for the dignity of the individual autonomous will. He believed that autonomous will has worth in itself because it is an end in itself. (Otteson,2009) If one is a Kantian, the use of torture to obtain information from a human being would not be an option. A true Kantian believes that all humanity should be treated with respect both in themselves and in others but never as a means to an end. In addition, one is never permitted to abuse someone’s humanity. The violent act of torturing another human being for any given reason is not moral. Further, to apply universal morality to this act the state would have to enforce the same treatment for everyone they need to obtain the truth from. Moral laws are universal principles of which all human beings are subject to. There are no excuses for breaking the moral law nor can it be manipulated to cover one’s self. A Kantian would also disagree with the maxim or reasoning behind the State’s means to use violence on another human being. There is no justification that would allow anyone to inflict harm to another human being, hoping to benefit from the act. The act of torture causes pain to the individual and the affects all parties connected to them.