Torture
When news broke in 2004 that the world’s lone remaining superpower, the United States, was engaging in widespread torture of detainees rounded up in its war on terrorism, torture became a fashionable colloquial and philosophical topic of discussion. The purpose of this entry will be to examine the parameters and categories of the philosophical discussion.
Defining Torture
The internationally accepted definition of torture comes from the U.N. Convention against Torture (UNCAT, which came into force in June, 1987): “the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for purposes such as obtaining information or a confession, or punishing, intimidating or coercing someone.”
Philosophical definitions are variations on this. For example, while almost everyone agrees that torture involves the infliction of severe physical suffering (although Davis (2005) disagrees), there is debate as to whether it also involves mental suffering. Michael Davis (2005) and Richard...
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