Re: Torture
This is a really tricky concept, to which there is no easy answer.
Whilst it is easy to say that torture here is clearly moral from a utilitarian point of view, it does not follow that torture should be made legal, and become just another method for the authorities to use. Alan Dershowitz, who I think is a Law Professor at Harvard, argued for the introduction of "torture permits". So in this case, the police could go to a judge and ask for the right to torture the kidnapper, and providing the law was written satisfactorally, the judge would approve.
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