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Informationen zum Autor Bob Brecher is Reader in Moral Philosophy at the University of Brighton, UK and Director of its Centre for Applied Philosophy, Politics and Ethics. He is the author of two previous books, Anselm's Argument: the Logic of Divine Existence and Getting What You Want?: a Critique of Liberal Morality (1998). He has published widely in ethics and social and political philosophy and was the founding editor of the journal Res Publica . Klappentext Do you really think torture is acceptable in any circumstances? The controversial arguments of Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz supporting the legalisation of torture in so-called "ticking bomb" scenarios represent the most sophisticated and visible of recent attempts to make torture an accepted weapon in the war on terror. States and other agents engage in torture, as both sides of the debate accept. According to Bob Brecher, it is precisely because the general public are taking the "new realism" of Dershowitz and others seriously that there is a pressing need to expose the fundamental flaws in their arguments, lest the peoples of democratic societies lose their moral compass and fail to be vigilant in holding their governments properly to account. This timely and passionate book is the first to address itself directly to the arguments for legalising the limited use of interrogational torture. Brecher confronts those arguments head-on, examining the efficacy of torture and drawing out the practical implications for policy as well as the ethical implications of these proposals for the kind of society we live in. Zusammenfassung This timely and passionate book is the first to address itself to Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz's controversial arguments for the limited use of interrogational torture and its legalisation. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface ix 1 Introduction 1 What is Torture? 3 Dershowitz on Interrogational Torture 6 Why Write about Torture? 8 The Agenda 11 2 The Fantasy of the Ticking Bomb Scenario 14 Dershowitz's Argument and the Ticking Bomb 14 Who Tortures? 21 Effectiveness and Time 24 Knowledge and Necessity 31 The Ticking Bomb Scenario: Conclusion 38 3 The Consequences of Normalizing Interrogational Torture 40 Some Clarifications 41 Three Positive Claims about the Consequences of Legalizing Interrogational Torture 52 The Institutionalization of Interrogational Torture 57 A Torturous Society 72 4 Torture, Death and Philosophy 75 Torture 76 Torture, Death and Interrogation 79 Why No Decent Society Can Torture 84 Torture, the "War on Terror" and Intellectual Irresponsibility 85 But What if Torture Really is the Only Possible Way to Avoid Catastrophe? 86 Two Final Points 88 Notes 89 Bibliography 109 Index 117 ...
