There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
Interpretation
The effectiveness of torture is debated, questioning its justification based on results.
Noam Chomsky highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the effectiveness of torture in obtaining information. He suggests that the prevailing assumption seems to be that if torture can be proven effective, then it may be justified, raising ethical concerns about its use and prompting deeper moral inquiry into the means of obtaining knowledge and the implications of such actions.
In practice
During a debate on human rights, one could cite this quote to emphasize the ethical implications of torture.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
When Rumsfeld gets up on television and says we have definitive intelligence that al Qaeda is working with Iraq, how is an ordinary citizen supposed to react? They won't tell you the evidence, and when anyone asks, they say, 'Well, you know: It's secret.'
Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.
I measured the skies, now the shadows I measure, Sky-bound was the mind, earth-bound the body rests. [Kepler's epitaph]
War is a quarrel between two thieves too cowardly to fight their own battle; therefore they take boys from one village and another village, stick them into uniforms, equip them with guns, and let them loose like wild beasts against one other.
The society in which we live is the result of our psychological state.
The Self of everyone, the Atma of everyone, the transcendental field of reality of everyone, is the same in everyone. Whether the body calls itself an American, German, Indian or Chinese, it doesn't matter.
Totally without hope, one cannot live. To live without hope is to cease to live.
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