WHEN does the end justify the means?


Purely a philosophical question. With release of the arguable "torture" memos, when is it okay to torture. Let us pretend that the "torture" methods helped saved lives (if otherwise, it would be torturing for fun and prosecution would be mandatory). Is in that a line to when doing despicable acts is okay (to save and protect innocent lives for instance)?
Best Answer:
Some would argue the ends always justify the means. I argue that not a soul truly knows the full consequence of the means and unethical engagements may appear to have positive results; however, there are always opportune negative results that carry with them. For example, Hitler believed the ends prove the means. But how was he to know a Jewish society would actually result within a better society.
when it your life on the column.
torture by the state is unacceptable. torture is also unacceptable by a man. when the time comes that torture become "neccessary" it is up to that man to do what is right, law or no law. but not the state.
The problem is when you torture someone, you don't know if you are going to get information to save lives. You don't even know if the person you are torturing know the information. Study after study shows that torturing does not generate reliable information because the person being tortured will say anything to try to call a halt the torturing, even if they don't have the information the torturer is looking for. The other issue is. How can you tell the good guys from the discouraging guys if we torture people?
Even assuming your premise that torture is if truth be told effective for this purpose (though studies of the use of these methods against Americans by the Chinese in the Korean War and the Japanese in WWII hold shown they aren't reliable, while conventional techniques often produce much more usable intelligence), you've got to consider whether or not here is anything worth dying for. Why did we fight the American Revolution if not for our freedom and our way of energy. We cannot give up our principals for a chance to save lives as a simple issue of math. It has to be a much more complex consideration of our national character than that.
If it was a concern of national security that could potentially end the country, then yes the ends do prove correct the means.