On Torture

Abstract

This thesis argues that the ticking bomb scenario is a fiction and it accordingly asks, "if it is a fiction, how does it exercise the power of a black hole in modern memory? How does it bend all argument to its narrative, preventing light breaking beyond the edges to the reality of torture? The thesis discusses the debate on the justifiability of torture in so-called 'ticking bomb' situations. It posits that the ticking bomb scenario frames how we think about torture in a way that excludes the actual practice of torture; the debate on torture, consequently, bears little or no relation to reality. The book fathoms out the disjuncture between this falsely articulated debate on torture and the legal and moral reality of torture. Giorgio Agamben's theory of the state of exception is introduced to this discourse as a foil to deconstruct three existing academic approaches to the use of torture in the ticking bomb scenario. These positions are, firstly, the qualified torture prohibition, represented by Alan Dershowitz's 'torture warrant' proposal, secondly, the pragmatic absolute torture prohibition, represented by Oren Gross's extra-legal measures model and, thirdly, the absolute torture prohibition, as reflected in international law. In addition, Agamben's theory of the state of exception is employed in order to theorise the space in which (exceptional) torture is practiced.