Hartwick college

This course will explore the history, legality, morality, and political reality of torture. We will examine a wide range of issues surrounding this dark practice, as it exists currently and historically. The issues we examine will range from the quite concrete (what devices and methods are used to torture? How reliable is evidence procured from so-called 'depth interrogation?') to the quite abstract (What constitutes 'torture'? Is it ever morally acceptable?). Our conversations in class will cover a great deal, both in philosophy and in political science. We will explore how the existence of torture relates to things like international law, presidential power, the U.S. Constitution, and the very essence of democratic governance. We will spend much time considering torture in the United States, but not to the exclusion of torture as it has emerged elsewhere: in Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Iraq, and the UK (for example). We will likewise investigate how current torture stands in relation to the judicial torture system as it existed in Medieval Europe and before. In addition, we will consider arguments currently offered to sanction torture in particular cases (the 'ticking-bomb' argument, for example), as well as specific legal proposals (Alan Dershowitz's proposal for a system of 'torture warrants,' for example). Finally, we will consider the moral issues surrounding torture in its many forms: is it ever acceptable? Does it differ in essence from forced testimony, self-defense, or punishment? What effects does torture have on its survivors?

Course Texts:

• Conroy, John. Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People: The Dynamics of Torture. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2000.
• Greenberg, Karen J. The Torture Debate in America, Cambridge University Press, 2005
• Levinson, Sanford (editor), Torture: A Collection. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
• There are additional articles, court cases, and other documents available on Blackboard.

Assignments:

Short Quizzes: 20%

Exam #1: 20%

Exam #2: 20%

Exam #3: 20%

Final Exam: 20% (cumulative)

Note: Readings on Blackboard have each been assigned a number. Readings without numbers are in the course texts.

Reading Schedule

Feb 12: An Introduction to the course

Feb 14: The Dershowitz Proposal (An intro to some of the issues)

Read: Alan Dershowitz, "Tortured Reasoning," Torture: A Collection, 257-280.

Read: Dershowitz, Chapter 4, Why Terrorism Works, 130-163 (Chapters, Blackboard)

Note: Some of the material in Dershowitz is duplicated in the two readings listed above. Please read both versions.

Feb 19: The History of Torture: (How was it a part of the law, and why did it change?)

Read: Peters, Chapter 1, Torture, 3-40

Read: Langbein, "The Legal History of Torture" in Torture: A Collection

Feb 21: No required reading

Suggested Reading (Primary Source Material): Edward Peters, "Appendix" to Torture, 211-250 (Blackboard, Chapters, #8)

Feb 26: Read: Foucault, Discipline and Punish, pp. 3-69

Feb 28: Exam #1

March 4: The Re-emergence of Torture

Read: Mark Bowden, "The Dark Art of Interrogation" (Blackboard, Articles, #2)

Read: Conroy, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People, 3-38

March 6: The Experience of Torture and Torturer

Read: Conroy, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People, 39-122

Read: Osiel, Chapter 7, "The Mental State of Torturers: Argentina's Dirty War." Torture: A Collection, 129-144

March 11:

Read: Zimbardo, Chapter 12, 13, The Lucifer Effect (Blackboard, Chapters, #10)

March 13:

Read: Zimbardo, Chapters 14, 15, The Lucifer Effect (Blackboard, Chapters, #10)

MOVIE: Ghosts of Abu Ghraib

March 18:

Read: Conroy, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People, 123-183

Read: Chapters 1-3, At the Side of Torture Survivors, (Blackboard, Chapters, #5)

Movie: Pain (30 minutes)

March 20: MOVIE: GITMO

March 22-30: Spring Break

April 1:

Read: Conroy, Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People, 184-256

Read: Scarry, The Body in Pain (Blackboard, Chapters)

April 3: EXAM #2

April 8: Torture: The Political and Legal Arguments

Read: Israeli Supreme Court, Torture: A Collection, Chapter 9, 165-182.

Read: UN Convention against Torture, (Blackboard, Chapters, #8, Appendix, 273-288)

Read: Geneva Convention (selections to be made available)

April 10

Read: Relevant Documents 1 (Taft-Haynes Memo), and 2 (Bybee-Gonzales Memo), in The Torture Debate in America, 283-360.

MOVIE: Bush Crimes Commission Hearings

April 15

Read: CIA Human Resource Exploitation Manual(Miscellaneous Documents, Blackboard), 1-123

Read: Kubark Manual, 1963, Blackboard

April 17

Read: Gur-Arye, Chapter 10, "Can the War Against Terror Justify the Use of Force in Interrogations? Reflections in Light of the Israeli Experience, Torture: A Collection, pgs 183-198

Read: Gross, Chapter 13, "The Prohibition on Torture and the Limits of the Law." Torture: A Collection, 229-255

April 22

Read: David Bowker, Chapter 9, "Unwise Counsel: The War on Terrorism and the Criminal Mistreatment of Detainees in U.S. Custody." The Torture Debate in America, 183-202

Read: Casey and Rivkin, Chapter 10, "Rethinking the Geneva Conventions," The Torture Debate in America, 203-213

April 24

Read: Heather MacDonald, "How to Investigate Terrorists"

Read: Stephen Holmes, "Is Defiance of Law a Proof of Success? Magical Thinking in the War on Terror;"

Read: Scott Horton, "Through a Mirror, Darkly: Applying the Geneva Conventions to 'A New Kind of Warfare.'"

All readings are in The Torture Debate in America

April 29: EXAM 3

May 1 The Ethics of Torture

Read: Kershnar, "Arguments Against the Punitive Use of Torture"

May 6

Read: Bagaric and Clark, Torture: When the Unthinkable is Morally Permissible (Chapters, Blackboard, 3)

May 8:

Read: Luban, "Liberalism, Torture, and the Ticking Bomb," The Torture Debate in America 35-83

May 13:

Read: Sussman, "What's Wrong With Torture?" (Blackboard, Articles, 19)

Read: Davis, "The Moral Justifiability of Torture." (Blackboard, Articles, 5)

May 15:

Read: Tindale, "Tragic Choices: Reaffirming Absolutes in the Torture Debate," nd Tindale, "The Logic of Torture," (Blackboard, Articles, 20a and 20b)

ACCOMMODATIONS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Reasonable accommodations will be provided to qualified students with documented disabilities. If you have a disability requiring accommodations in any class, contact and meet the Coordinator of Disability Services, Patty Jacobsen, in Yager 504 or call 431-4546 or 431-4435. Your request for accommodation will be discussed and if determined to be reasonable, you will be provided with the verification letter that must be returned to the course instructor.