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Empathy and torture
The Economist: EMPATHY is often confused with sympathy in Washington and derided as a trait of bleeding-heart liberals. But whereas sympathy can be uninformed—”I could never imagine what she is going through”—empathy is the ability
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Torture – Too Severe for Empathy
An interrogation practice is classified as torture when it inflicts severe physical or mental pain. But the people who determine what defines severity aren’t experiencing that pain so they underestimate it. A study in an
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Is ‘enhanced interrogation’ torture? Yes, say those given small dose
The Vancouver Sun: Those who approve “enhanced interrogation techniques” probably have a flawed idea of whether this constitutes torture, because few have felt the pain these methods can cause, researchers report. A study that gave
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Is it torture? Those who decide have not felt it
Reuters: Those who approve “enhanced interrogation techniques” probably have a flawed idea of whether this constitutes torture, because few have felt the pain these methods can cause, researchers reported Monday. A new study that gave
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Crossing the Line: What Constitutes Torture?
Torture. The United Nations defines it as the “infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering.” But how severe is severe? That judgment determines whether or not the law classifies an interrogation practice as
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Does the “Empathy Gap” Encourage Torture?
Imagine that you work for a government agency and you are trying to get information from a suspected terrorist. As part of your interrogation you lock the detainee in a “cold cell.” A cold cell
