Internationally renowned philosopher Richard Rorty spoke as part of the Truax Lecture Series in Philosophy on March 1. His lecture, "Moral Absolutism and Torture," explained two opposing philosophical positions, moral absolutists and consequentialists, and their views on the subject of torture.
His lecture discussed the two viewpoints in depth, describing how moral absolutists and consequentialist thought would (hypothetically) debate situations when torture could be acceptable and when torture was unacceptable. Moral absolutists, according to Rorty, believe that certain things are fundamentally wrong; consequentialists believe that conditions and consequences need to be taken into account.
Citing Kant and the weaknesses of his argument -- including the beliefs that lying and suicide are always wrong -- Rorty made a case against Kant's argument. Rorty said that humanity can no longer be reduced to either pleasure or pain, and one of the trickiest cases that philosophers, government officials, and society must analyze is the use of torture, particularly to obtain information from terrorists.
Rorty discussed the effects of 9/11 and how the attacks changed most people's minds regarding the debate on torture. Before 9/11, torture warrants were unacceptable, Rorty explained. The current "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the U.S. government uses regarding torture has led many people to believe that the United States government is showing a "hysterical display of toughness." However, many people believe torture is necessary in many situations.
In the end, Rorty admitted himself to side with the consequentialist thought. He tried to convince the audience to believe the same, touching on the debate between knowledge and certainty, as well as discussing moral idealism and moral absolutism. Rorty explained that, unfortunately, moral absolutists believe that we live in a fantasy, ideal world. Consequentialists, on the other hand, believe in the actual world and make their decisions based on the real world. Rorty admitted that he would like to live in the ideal world moral absolutists believe in, but the world is simply not there yet.
Rorty ended his lecture optimistically, saying that instead of arguing over whether torture is morally right or wrong currently, we should be trying to eliminate situations of terror. We should be "trying to create a society where our children's hand will be cleaner than our own," Rorty urged.
The Truax Lecture Series was established in the mid-1950's by R. Hawley Truax, class of 1909, in memory of his father, Chauncey S. Truax, who was a member of the class of 1875 and also served on the Hamilton College Board of Trustees from 1899 to 1906. The Truax lecture series recognizes distinguished guest philosophers or lecturers in the field of philosophy.
-- by Emily Lemanczyk 05
