Torture. Is it ever justifiable?

Essay from the year 2012 in the subject Politics - General and Theories of International Politics, grade: 1,5, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, language: English, abstract: This essay deals with torture and investigates and challenges arguments trying to justify torture. The line of justification of those supporting torture most commonly focuses on so called ticking time bomb scenarios. These are hypothetical situations in which a captive knows where a time bomb is hidden but refuses to divulge that information. In such situations, it is contended, torture is morally permissible and justifiable as it is the only means to save innocent lives. In these circumstances, it is less bad to inflict physical harm on a guilty person than to allow large numbers to die. According to Bagaric and Clarke, torture should be used when the threat is imminent, there are no other means of alleviating the threat, and the suspect is known to have the relevant information .