Argument Essay
Romikeo Duzant
Mrs. Kaufman
14th November 2013
Word Count: 754
Argument Essay Some individuals would agree that torture would be necessary if terrorist/criminals that were captured possessed information that could potentially harm millions of people or families. Now torture has taken on a whole new meaning. Torture is the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain. In Michael Levin’s essay “The Case of Torture,” he makes some good points about why torture should be mandatory, but his points appeal to emotion and he contradicts himself in his essay. Michael Levin makes some good points in his essay but instead of him trying to back his points up with concrete details and ways to the solve problems when the terrorist is caught, he asks questions. Levin says, “Suppose a terrorist has hidden an atomic bomb on Manhattan Island which will detonate at noon on July 4 unless... (Here follow the usual demands for money, and release of his friends from jail). Suppose, further, that he is caught at 10 a.m. of the fateful day, but preferring death to failure won’t disclose where the bomb is. What do we do” (359)? Levin wants the reader to agree with him and find what he is saying to be true, but how can the read agree if he/she is being asked questions instead of being informed on what should be done to the terrorist that would be caught in this situation. Secondly, Michael Levin does not talk about what would happen if the wrong person was picked up because he/she matched the description of a terrorist that was being looked for. In these times many random events like school shootings, and bombings, has force the government to put in a new act called stop and frisk. All this does is give authorities the opportunity to stop anyone that look suspicious so they can frisk them, also they can just pick someone up and say he looks like he was up to
Mrs. Kaufman
14th November 2013
Word Count: 754
Argument Essay Some individuals would agree that torture would be necessary if terrorist/criminals that were captured possessed information that could potentially harm millions of people or families. Now torture has taken on a whole new meaning. Torture is the action or practice of inflicting severe pain on someone as a punishment or to force them to do or say something, or for the pleasure of the person inflicting the pain. In Michael Levin’s essay “The Case of Torture,” he makes some good points about why torture should be mandatory, but his points appeal to emotion and he contradicts himself in his essay. Michael Levin makes some good points in his essay but instead of him trying to back his points up with concrete details and ways to the solve problems when the terrorist is caught, he asks questions. Levin says, “Suppose a terrorist has hidden an atomic bomb on Manhattan Island which will detonate at noon on July 4 unless... (Here follow the usual demands for money, and release of his friends from jail). Suppose, further, that he is caught at 10 a.m. of the fateful day, but preferring death to failure won’t disclose where the bomb is. What do we do” (359)? Levin wants the reader to agree with him and find what he is saying to be true, but how can the read agree if he/she is being asked questions instead of being informed on what should be done to the terrorist that would be caught in this situation. Secondly, Michael Levin does not talk about what would happen if the wrong person was picked up because he/she matched the description of a terrorist that was being looked for. In these times many random events like school shootings, and bombings, has force the government to put in a new act called stop and frisk. All this does is give authorities the opportunity to stop anyone that look suspicious so they can frisk them, also they can just pick someone up and say he looks like he was up to