The Economist has a nice piece on torture and international law. It’s well worth reading, though it would be benefit from a clearer appreciation of the underlying moral issues. The essay discusses a BBC survey of 27,000 people in 25 countries about the legitimacy of torture. The people were asked if torture was always impermissible, or if it depended on circumstances such as “ticking bomb scenarios”. The results? Israel and Iraq are the most consequentialist countries, though China, Russia, and the US are not far behind. The European countries (Britain, France, and Germany) are the least consequentialist. It’s heartening to see that the legacy of Europe’s Christian culture is not dead, as some would claim.
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