Michael Levin is a philosophy professor and writer who argues that using torture is necessary when saving innocent people’s lives from a terrorist threat in his essay “The Case for Torture” (301). He argues that it is dangerous to value the life of a terrorist over hundreds, thousands, and millions of citizens who are affected by a terrorist threat; he also explains that only clearly guilty criminals should be subjected to this method; and he uses examples of several potential hostages, and terrorist situations in which not using torture on the criminals would put innocent people’s lives in even more significant danger, thus making torture the right if not the only choice of action. The author argues for the change of the law as the author considers prioritizing an idealistic anti-torture worldview disingenuous and that in order to deal with the terrorist threat better, torture must be not only permissible but even mandatory. Levin’s essay is aimed at a politically inclined audience, lawmakers and active voters, and to convince them, he uses a logical but exaggerated tone: he brings up severe hypothetical situations to prompt readers to question the law’s stance on torture.
Reference
Levin, Michael. “The Case for Torture.” Terrorism and Torture, 1982.