Torture fails to make us safe, but it certainly makes us less free.
While the notion that torture works has been glorified in television shows and movies, the simple truth is this: torture has never been an effective interrogation method.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Torture is often portrayed as effective in media, but in reality, it is ineffective for gathering truthful information.
This quote highlights the misconception that torture is a viable method for obtaining reliable information from individuals, a narrative perpetuated by media portrayals. The author emphasizes that, despite its dramatic representation in television and film, evidence shows that torture does not produce effective or truthful results, thereby questioning its ethical implications and drawing attention to the need for more humane interrogation methods.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a debate about human rights, you might reference this quote to argue against the use of torture.
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With no matter what human being, taken individually, I always find reasons for concluding that sorrow and misfortune do not suit him; either because he seems too mediocre for anything so great, or, on the contrary, too precious to be destroyed.
Charity feeds the poor, so does pride; charity builds an hospital, so does pride. In this they differ: charity gives her glory to God; pride takes her glory from man.
No matter how much we try to run away from this thirst for the answer to life, for the meaning of life, the intensity only gets stronger and stronger. We cannot escape these spiritual hungers.
We took such care of tomorrow, but died on the way there.
We are motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is the more he is inspired by glory. The very philosophers themselves, even in those books which they write in contempt of glory, inscribe their names.
We must reckon with the possibility that something in the nature of the sexual instinct itself is unfavorable to the realization of complete satisfaction.