Archived Comments for:
Trotter G: The Ethics of Coercion in Mass Casualty Medicine Baltimore, MD, The Johns Hopkins University Press; 2007. 154 pages, ISBN-13 978-0-8018-8551-8
A response to the proponent of an exception to the prohibition against torturing a prisoner
Abraham Halpern, New York Medical College
9 November 2007
Dr. Griffin Trotter strongly supports the use of torture in the case of a detainee who is believed to possess information concerning, say, a nuclear device that is about to be activated with the result that the author and everyone else in the world will be eliminated after suffering horribly painful irradiation burns. ("In certain instances," he states, "the refusal to use torture would be morally reprehensible.") This ridiculous ticking time bomb example, in one form or another, has been postulated over the centuries. It is mischievous, if not dangerous, and exemplifies, within the current U.S. Government, even at the very highest levels, present-day justifications to torture individuals suspected of possessing information that might benefit a particular cause, however noble or malignant that cause might be. Once one accepts this suggestion to violate laws against torture, the shameful journey on the slippery slope has begun. The absurdity of the ticking bomb example is its presumption that the prisoner (terrorist) is a naïve person who cannot figure out how to lie or who had not undergone the training necessary to deal with such a situation. So, my answer is "No!"; that is, under no circumstances is torture justified.
Competing interests
I am absolutely opposed to torture under any circumstances.
Further comments by Abraham Halpern, M.D. on prohibition against torturing a prisoner
Michael Schwartz, Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine
12 November 2007
Abraham L. Halpern, M.D., author of previous comment, is interviewed on this topic in the following links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEq8jCtILoA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oULhHzC8E_8
The interviews are conducted by Dr. Michael Blumenfield, Professor of Psychiatry at New York Medical College, on shrinkpod. http://www.shrinkpod.com/
Dr Halpern is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at New York Medical College and Former President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Competing interests
Posted by Editor-in-Chief of Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (PEHM)
A response to the proponent of an exception to the prohibition against torturing a prisoner
9 November 2007
Dr. Griffin Trotter strongly supports the use of torture in the case of a detainee who is believed to possess information concerning, say, a nuclear device that is about to be activated with the result that the author and everyone else in the world will be eliminated after suffering horribly painful irradiation burns. ("In certain instances," he states, "the refusal to use torture would be morally reprehensible.") This ridiculous ticking time bomb example, in one form or another, has been postulated over the centuries. It is mischievous, if not dangerous, and exemplifies, within the current U.S. Government, even at the very highest levels, present-day justifications to torture individuals suspected of possessing information that might benefit a particular cause, however noble or malignant that cause might be. Once one accepts this suggestion to violate laws against torture, the shameful journey on the slippery slope has begun. The absurdity of the ticking bomb example is its presumption that the prisoner (terrorist) is a naïve person who cannot figure out how to lie or who had not undergone the training necessary to deal with such a situation. So, my answer is "No!"; that is, under no circumstances is torture justified.
Competing interests
I am absolutely opposed to torture under any circumstances.
Further comments by Abraham Halpern, M.D. on prohibition against torturing a prisoner
12 November 2007
Abraham L. Halpern, M.D., author of previous comment, is interviewed on this topic in the following links: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEq8jCtILoA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oULhHzC8E_8
The interviews are conducted by Dr. Michael Blumenfield, Professor of Psychiatry at New York Medical College, on shrinkpod. http://www.shrinkpod.com/
Dr Halpern is Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at New York Medical College and Former President of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law.
Competing interests
Posted by Editor-in-Chief of Philosophy, Ethics, and Humanities in Medicine (PEHM)