My friend Jason sends along this article in The New Yorker about Joel Surnow, the co-creator of the television hit 24. The article is a little long, but it makes for interesting reading, especially when the author, Jane Mayer, talks about Surnow's youth.
Her main point in the essay, though, seems to be to challenge Surnow's use, and evident approval, of torture in the series. Lots of interrogation experts are trotted out to tut tut about the harmful effects the show is having on the attitudes of American youth and to offer their arguments for absolutizing a ban on torture.
Surnow is given the last word, however, and in the last paragraph I think he blows his critics' arguments right out of the water.
Torture for the purpose of amusing the torturer or punishing the victim is an absolute evil, but if there's a chance that innocent lives may be saved through the application of painful coercion to someone who withholds information that could save them, such coercion is morally justified, if not obligatory.
Anyone who finds this view offensive should put themselves in the place of a parent or spouse whose loved one is threatened with death. We've discussed this problem several times over the last couple of years and the interested reader might wish to check out some of our previous posts on the matter. This one is probably the best one to start with, but others here, here, and here might be helpful in making our position clear.
RLC
