Synopses & Reviews
Torture is perhaps the most unequivocally banned practice in the world today. Yet within six weeks after September 11, articles began appearing suggesting that torture might be "required" in order to interrogate suspected terrorists about future possibilities of violence. The United States and some of its allies are using methods of questioning relating to the war on terrorism that could be described as torture or, at the very least, as inhuman and degrading. It is known that the United States sent some suspected terrorists to allied countries that are well known to engage in torture. And in terror's wake, the use of such methods, at least under some conditions, has gained some prominent defenders.
Torture: A Collection brings together leading lawyers, political theorists, social scientists, and public intellectuals to debate the advisability of maintaining the absolute ban on torture and to reflect on what it says about our societies if we do--or do not--adhere to it in all circumstances. One important question is how we define torture at all. Are "cruel and inhumane" practices that result in profound physical or mental discomfort tolerable so long as they do not meet some definition of "torture"? And how much "transparency" do we really want with regard to interrogation practices? Is "don't ask, don't tell" an acceptable response to those who concern themselves about these practices? Addressing these questions and more, this book tackles one of the most controversial issues that we face today.
The noted contributors include Ariel Dorfman, Elaine Scarry, Alan Dershowitz, Judge Richard Posner, Michael Walzer, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and other lawyers from both the United States and abroad.
Review
"This superior collection of essays by 17 leading scholars provides a timely, penetrating investigation into this morally challenging but important topic.... It is a pleasure to read an edited book in which the chapters speak to each other. This is a well-crafted study in political ethics."--Choice
" Few of this book's contributors want to engage in polemics, and few--to their credit--ever seem completely comfortable with their own conclusions."--The New York Times Book Review
"[C]omprehensive and thought-provoking." --The American Lawyer
"Sanford Levinson has done us all a tremendous service in compiling this rich set of essays on a highly compelling and timely topic." -- Ethics and International Affairs
"Conceived wll before the Abu Ghraib story broke, Levinson's collection of essays by philosophers and lawyers provides a cooler, though not dispassionate, look at the issues surrounding torture. Contributors include Jean Bethke Elshtain, Richard Posner, Michael Walzer, and the inevitable Alan Dershowitz.... The collection considers the conditions under which torture might nonetheless be acceptable--notably, the 'ticking bomb' scenario, when the quick extraction of information can save many lives. Dershowitz argues that the normative case against torture remains strong but that under such conditions inhibitions will be overcome--and that it is best that any torturous interrogation be explicit and controlled. His critics denounce such a move as bringing torture into the realm of the legitimate. Other problems are raised, such as identifying the point at which pressure becomes torture."--Foreign Affairs
"Closely argued, well written, and quite readable, these essays jointly constitute a valuable contribution to the field."--Library Journal
Synopsis
Torture is perhaps the most unequivocally banned practice in the world today. Yet recent photographs from Abu Ghraib substantiated claims that the United States and some of its allies are using methods of questioning relating to the war on terrorism that could be described as torture or, at the very least, as inhuman and degrading. In terror's wake, the use of such methods, at least under some conditions, has gained some prominent defenders, notably from within the White House. In this revised edition, Torture: A Collection brings together leading lawyers, political theorists, social scientists, and public intellectuals to debate the advisability of maintaining the absolute ban and to reflect on what it says about our societies if we do--or do not--adhere to it in all circumstances. New to this edition are essays by Charles Krauthammer and Andrew Sullivan on the adoption in 2005 of the McCain Amendment, which explicitly bars the use of torture and other cruel methods of interrogation.
About the Author
Sanford Levinson is the W. St. John Garwood and W. St. John Garwood, Jr., Centennial Chair in Law and Professor of Government at the University of Texas at Austin. Previous books include
Constitutional Faith;
Written in Stone: Public Monuments in Changing Societies; and
Wrestling with Diversity. A frequent contributor to academic and popular journals, he has also been a long-time reviewer for the History Book Club.
Table of Contents
Foreword: The Tyranny of Terror: Is Torture Inevitable in Our Century and Beyond?,
Ariel DorfmanAcknowledgments
1. Contemplating Torture: An Introduction, Sanford Levinson
Part I: Philosophical Considerations
2. Torture, Henry Shue
3. Political Action: The Problem of Dirty Hands, Michael Walzer
4. Reflection on the Problem of "Dirty Hands", Jean Bethke Elshtain
Part II: Torture as Practiced
5. The Legal History of Torture, John H. Langbein
6. American Interrogation: From Torture to Trickery, Jerome H. Skolnick
7. The Mental State of Torturers: Argentina's Dirty War, Mark Osiel
Part III: Contemporary Attempts to Abolish Torture through Law
8. Escalation and Necessity: Defining Torture at Home and Abroad, John T. Parry
9. Judgment Concerning the Legality of the General Security Service's Interrogation Methods, Supreme Court of Israel
10. Can the War against Terror Justify the Use of Force in Interrogations? Reflections in Light of the Israeli Experience, Miriam Gur-Arye
11. The Promise and Limits of the International Law of Torture, Oona A. Hathaway
12. The European Convention on Human Rights and Its Prohibition on Torture, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin
13. The Prohibition on Torture and the Limits of the Law, Oren Gross
Part IV: Reflections on the Post-September 11 Debate about Legalizing Torture
14. Tortured Reasoning, Alan Dershowitz
15. Five Errors in the Reasoning of Alan Dershowitz, Elaine Scarry
16. Torture, Terrorism, and Interrogation, Richard A. Posner
17. Loose Professionalism, or Why Lawyers Take the Lead on Torture, Richard H. Weisberg
18. The Truth About Torture, Charles Krauthammer
19. The Abolition of Toture, Andrew Sullivan
Contributors
Index