Quote:
Quote by: Simonius  Assuming that torture is sometimes permissable then yes I do
argue that a machinelike unemotional approach to it is less
objectionable then an emotional one.
To me that's just basic level headed morality. |
So people should do it clinically, vocationally? Again, it's fascinating. How does a lack of emotion improve morality, except in fascist circles? If you look at fascist leaders, they overwhelmingly believe morality can be determined merely by a clinical, "scientific" social setting. There's a reason it's called a "Nazi death machine."
"All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state."
- Benito Mussolini.
What you say fits that quote like a glove. Under fascism, how society functions (that includes morality) is determined largely by arbitrary conditions (a ruling elite), that are no doubt bureaucratic and, if they are to succeed, put checks on human emotion and regard society as nothing but a machine. If acts fall outside these parameters (for example, say we express emotion while we're torturing people), then people fail to represent the objective, grand ideals they're serving and, to the leaders, become less legitimate. It happens in many workplaces, too. If people start exhibiting the strain of being used like a machine, it might show up in the employee review that their human nature is too distracting.
You're arguing that it's not the act, but the ends of it we should consider. In this case, the end is to seem "objective" when torturing somebody. Now, certain dictators would love citizens who meet this standard; people who can carry out orders without question and not become emotional wrecks in the process. It'd solidify authoritarian rule, perhaps even making political propaganda less necessary (though it's debatable how much of these spectacles are done to appease the people, seeing as to how self-aggrandizement has its basic emotional appeals).
Remember, even Hitler put a halt to public hangings, realizing that witnesses' cumbersome emotions might actually come into play and affect German pride. The general principle also applies to America's restrictions on covering war dead. Why do those exist? It's so those cumbersome emotions don't take hold. If they do, people might begin questioning what they're contributing to. In other words, people would act more like people.
Grandpa h.