Can Torture Ever Be Justified for a Democracy?

dc.contributor.authorSt. Peter, Jerry
dc.contributor.supervisorHolder, Cindy
dc.date.accessioned2014-01-08T21:03:02Z
dc.date.available2014-01-08T21:03:02Z
dc.date.copyright2013en_US
dc.date.issued2014-01-08
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Philosophyen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en_US
dc.description.abstractIn this work, I defend the view that torture is an inexcusable practice for a democracy. Philosophical defenses of torture rely on hypothetical, abstract scenarios in which we are asked to imagine that a ticking bomb has been planted in the center of a metropolitan area and will kill thousands of innocents unless the terrorist, who has been captured by state agents but refuses to divulge the bomb’s location, is tortured. This model gives insufficient attention to the problematic relationship between pain and truth and reduces the recognition of torture as a practice of social and political domination. By taking a closer look at how democracies have practiced torture and how they have tried to reconcile its practice with democratic norms such as accountability and the rule of law, we are better equipped to understand what is at stake in justifying torture. The justifications that service and promote this violent practice fail to satisfy epistemic conditions of truth and evidence, and neglect moral restraints regarding our treatment of others as well as the profound consequences for allowing torture to persist in a democratic society.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0422en_US
dc.description.proquestemailjerryst.peter@gmail.comen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/5148
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rights.tempAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.subjecttortureen_US
dc.subjectdemocracyen_US
dc.subjectaccountabilityen_US
dc.subjectphilosophyen_US
dc.subjectjustificationen_US
dc.titleCan Torture Ever Be Justified for a Democracy?en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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