Torture

I was reading an article about the moral countenance of art in the latest issue of Philosophy Now. The article deals with the subject at hand by analyzing two movies: Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln. The author claims that Zero Dark Thirty was the more controversial of the two because the film deals with information from a source that was obtained by allegedly "torturing" the source. Unfortunately the author never defines his terms especially the word torture. Let me suggest a definition. Torture: The deliberate and gratuitous infliction of pain on another sentient being strictly for the sadistic gratification of the individual inflicting the pain. When I say gratuitous I mean that the infliction of pain is an end in itself rather than a means to an end. The information that we have is that the interrogation techniques used on Sheikh Mohammed were teleological in nature and therefore not torture. You're welcome.

Location: Pasadena, Pasadena

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