Thinking About Torture by Raimond Gaita (9780415416917)

Description - Thinking About Torture by Raimond Gaita

Recent events in Abhu Graib in the wake of 9/11 and murky 'detainment without trial' legislation in the United States have pushed torture to the very top of the headlines. Torture violates certain human rights and freedoms we take for granted, it is prohibited in international law without exception, and it is almost universally rejected. Yet it persists and according to some is justifiable if it can save the lives of others and promote the 'common good'. Raimond Gaita's powerful and superbly written new book is about the argument, rhetoric and moral confusion that surrounds torture. We are often astonished there could be any arguments condoning torture, but what is the basis of our incredulity? Why are arguments in favour of torture, such as the 'ticking bomb' argument, never justified? Why do arguments against torture often end up being used by those supporting it? In his profound and courageous moral voice, he argues that the slippery slope towards justifying torture begins with the idea, running deep in moral and political culture, that actions should be judged above all by their consequences.
Sharply criticising apologists for torture, such as Alan Derschowitz, he shows why this is wrong. He also rejects, controversially, the philosophical idea inherited from Kant that torture should be rejected because it violates human autonomy - a principle at the centre of human rights law and policy. Exploring instead the writings of Primo Levi and Jean Amery, a former member of the French Resistance, he offers a profound and radical new means of thinking about torture and what is morally unthinkable.

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