Torture. Defined as the use of inhumane and degrading methods of severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something. As an entire human race, I believe we cannot lawfully, and certainly not morally, be able to justify the use of torture for any scenario. Although in some cases the torturing of one individual can mean the well being of many, it should not be seen as a viable option of interrogation. As a civilized society with a supposedly more advanced moral development according to the definition of the word, we cannot value one person’s life above another’s. Therefore there can be no law within such a “civilized society” that allows the purposeful endangerment of one person for the gain, no matter what that gain may be, of the opposite party. It is certainly unfortunate that radical groups exist in the world today who dedicate themselves to the eradication of others, but when diplomacy fails, we cannot take these persons lives into our own hands as judge, jury, and executioner.
Torture is an extreme of manipulation, defined as the control or influence of a third party using unfair or unjust techniques. To uphold our label of “civilization” we cannot, as a nation, or a species, however extreme or “logical” the circumstance may make it seem, bring ourselves to use methods of torture against any one of our fellow Homo Sapiens. Although these ideas of peace and morality can seem futile and useless against such groups as ISIS, we must try to cultivate a world of civility where such atrocities as torture are far from commonplace. This does not mean we should turn a blind eye to those dangers that do exist, but we must not allow ourselves to sink to their level of fear mongering.