Reply #155: You certainly do step out confidently... [View All]

[primavera]

... onto a very slippery slope. In essence, you've just said that the ends justifies the means, that the appropriate response to a situation varies with how high the stakes happen to be. What makes you think that? If coersion is inherently ineffective and unreliable, how do increased stakes make something ineffective and unreliable suddenly attractive? Or if you believe that it is an effective way of achieving ones goals, then why not condone its application in all contexts? If you consider it effective but don't endorse it, what other explanation is there than that you perceive something morally repugnant about torture? So what you're ultimately saying is that you're prepared to engage in behavior you consider morally wrong if the stakes are high enough. What does it say about the strength of your belief system that you're ready to chuck it when it becomes inconvenient?