The Case for Torture

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beginning of this essay, Levin starts with a very strong stance on torture, "There are situations in which torture is not merely permissible but morally mandatory" (471). This statement engages the reader and creates a question in his or her mind which draws them in ensuring they continue reading. Levin answers that question in his next paragraph, "Death," (471) which is both a logical and emotional cause for his stance on torture. He argues saving millions of lives is a justifiable situation to torture someone. Levin adds to this by proposing a scenario to convince the reader and evoke more emotion. He uses words like "terrorist," "bomb," "millions of people will die," and "fateful day" (471) to help create the fear needed to justify torture. With words like "due process" and "lawyers," (471) he adds the feeling of frustration to that fear. Put together the reader feels the inevitable frustration of letting millions die, while a terrorist sits in court, especially when they believe ...

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situations; saving a plane full of innocents, and a kidnapped baby. He quickly runs through these two scenarios. He could have reconnected with the reader by going into better depth. Instead he jumps to a survey he had taken. He asks four mothers of newborns if they approved of torture to save their baby. All four said yes, with the "most liberal" (471) saying she would administer if herself, referring to the torture. Possibly, by interviewing the mothers further, or a mother who had lost a baby where torturing the kidnapper could have saved its life would have helped greatly to reestablish that lost connection. Levin should have elaborated more on any one of these three topics rather ...

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