A reader responds to the . Not just eloquent but spot on:
In real life the problem is that you typically don芒鈧劉t know what you don芒鈧劉t know, so there is no such tension. [Indeed, if the Bush administration were a Wagnerian opera, 芒鈧揾ow can we do meaningful review when you don芒鈧劉t know what you don芒鈧劉t know?芒鈧 would probably be the leitmotiv.] If torture is permitted in the hypothetical 芒鈧搕icking time bomb芒鈧 scenario, then one starts to perceive every terrorism investigation as a ticking time bomb. Indeed, the entire 芒鈧搘ar on terrorism芒鈧 can be framed as a giant ticking time bomb scenario 芒鈧 and in a sense that芒鈧劉s the only scale at which one can be readily know that there is a ticking time bomb. Thus, the more relevant question isn芒鈧劉t whether torture should be used in the 芒鈧搕icking time bomb芒鈧 scenario that is usually hypothesized as a thought experiment, but whether it should be used as a routine matter in terrorism investigation.I think this question must consider whether using torture as a routine matter is consistent with American ethical norms and whether torture has a proven record of effectiveness in interrogation. On both grounds, the answer seems to be 芒鈧渘o.芒鈧劉