The Moral Permissibility of Torture

Argument either for the conclusion, "Torture should be permitted", or for "Torture should not be permitted":

Torture is both morally mandatory and permissible, based on situational movement from imagination to factual realms. Torture is not advocated for as a form of punishment but as a measure to prevent evils in the future. Rejecting torture in enlightened societies is an unwise attitude.

The argument is based on suppositions such as terror which may lead to death such as bomb. The use of torture as a form of punishment is rejected on the basis of safeguarding the rights of the individual. These include death penalty opponents who claim that execution of murderers do not bring back dead victims. The torture proponents also claim that it is applied to keep innocents from being dispatched.

The torture is also justified in cases which are extreme since it is seen as a measure of balancing lives and a means of saving them.  The lives are valuable such that they must never be lost, and this is used as a premise to do anything to save the lives of people in danger, which may include subjecting the person who endangers them to torture.  

When torture is used as a means of preserving order, little danger is lost in the way. The act of terrorism and intimidation, kidnappings and ransom payments are intolerable in societies. Torture can be used only for the obviously guilty to save the innocent lives. This separates and demarcates legitimate application of torture on individuals.

The researchers claim that beautiful women lead men to throw caution to the wind." This is clearly a causal claim, one supported by the correlation claim above. Reconstruct this causal argument.

1. Results: the presence of beautiful women leads men to throw caution to the wind and thus affect their performance.

2. Measured correlation: the tricks applied by skateboarders in the presence of male and in the presence of female judge differed greatly.

3. Accuracy premise: the performance of men using different tricks and including male and female raters was a good measure of their performance in the presence of men and women.

4. Target correlation: the behavior of men in the presence of women which makes them to throw caution to the wind.

5. Representativeness premise: the sampled population of 96 males between 18 and 35 was a good representation of the target population.

6. Final conclusion/Causal Claim: when males performed in the presence of females, they show spectacular performance and throw caution to the wind, their testosterone levels increase than when in the presence of males.

The paragraph beginning with, "Does that prove their point" suggests some possible objections to the casual claim above. What are these possible objections and to which premise is each directed?

Men preformed better in front of women and were willing to live closer to the edge, and this possibly raised their testosterone levels. 

The rise in testosterone levels when young men performed in front of young women and its reduction when in the presence of male judge.

The level of attractiveness that a woman has to attain to enable the men throws caution to the wind. Can she just be any woman or must be a fox to do that.

The presence of male judge may cause decrease in testosterone levels and this possibly contribute to less spectacular performance (Dye, 2010).

One might take the conclusion above to suggest that being left-handed causes early death (around an average of 66). Reconstruct this causal argument.

1. Results:  the left-handers die younger (at an average age of 66) than right-handers (at an average age of 75 years.

2. Measured correlation: the average age that the left-handers and right-handers die differed (the left handed dye younger).

3. Accuracy premise: the average age of right-handers and left-handers dying based on analysis of death certificates was a good reflection of the difference in age of death and its causes among right and left-handers.

4. Target correlation: the Cause of the early death is the lefty's behavior and psychological disorders.

5. Representativeness premise: the 1000 certificates sampled was a good reflection of the target population.

6. Final conclusion/Causal Claim: the left-handers die nine years younger than the right-handers.