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Justice · Lecture 16 of 19 · 6:37

BBC: Torture and Human Dignity

Justice with Michael Sandel - BBC: Justice: Torture and human dignity on YouTube

Study guide

What this lecture covers

This excerpt from the BBC documentary "Justice: A Citizen's Guide to the 21st Century" examines a real case from Germany: police threatened to torture a kidnapper, Magnus Gafgen, to find his abducted victim, Jakob von Metzler, and the officer who made the threat was later convicted for violating the kidnapper's rights. Sandel uses the case to stage a debate between a Kantian, who insists that even a kidnapper's dignity forbids using him purely as a means, and a utilitarian, who argues that failing to act to save a life is itself a moral failure.

After watching, you should be able to explain both the Kantian and utilitarian positions on this case and articulate why the debate becomes harder as the numbers of potential victims increase.

Key ideas

  • Human dignity as inviolable: German constitutional law, shaped partly by Kant's influence, holds that human dignity can never be compromised, even to extract information from a criminal.
  • Using a person as a means: the Kantian objection to torture is that it treats the kidnapper purely as an instrument for obtaining information, denying his status as an end in himself.
  • The utilitarian reply: a utilitarian frames the failure to torture as a choice with consequences, since not acting to save the child amounts to responsibility for the child's death.
  • The numbers problem: the discussion presses whether the Kantian position holds even as stakes rise, testing whether the interviewee would sanction torturing an innocent person if it could save many more lives.

Before you watch

  • This clip connects directly to the Harvard course's lectures on Kant, and works best if you're already familiar with the Kantian idea of treating persons as ends rather than merely as means.

Check your understanding

  1. What happened in the Jakob von Metzler kidnapping case, and why was the police officer later convicted?
  2. What is the Kantian objection to threatening the kidnapper with torture?
  3. How does the utilitarian in the discussion respond to that objection?
  4. Why does raising the number of potential victims put pressure on the Kantian position?

Vocabulary

torture (noun)
The act of causing severe pain to someone, often to force information from them.
The police threatened torture to find the kidnapping victim.
kidnapping (noun)
The crime of taking a person away by force, often for ransom.
The case involves a real kidnapping in Germany.
abducted (adjective)
Taken away illegally and by force.
The abducted victim was a young boy.
convicted (adjective)
Officially found guilty of a crime in court.
The officer was convicted for violating the kidnapper's rights.
Kantian (adjective)
Relating to the philosopher Kant's ideas about duty and treating people as ends.
A Kantian objects to torture on principle.
inviolable (adjective)
Too important to be broken, harmed, or ignored.
German law treats human dignity as inviolable.
instrument (noun)
A tool used to achieve a purpose; here, treating a person only as a means.
Torture treats the kidnapper purely as an instrument for information.
extract (information) (verb)
To obtain something, often with effort or force.
The threat aimed to extract information about the victim's location.
sanction (verb) (verb)
To officially approve or allow an action.
Would the interviewee sanction torture to save many lives?
stake (noun) (noun)
Something at risk or that could be gained or lost in a situation.
The debate becomes harder as the stakes rise.
interviewee (noun)
A person who is being asked questions in an interview.
The interviewee is pressed on whether the position still holds.
moral failure (noun)
A wrong action or a failure to act rightly, judged morally.
The utilitarian calls inaction a moral failure.
documentary (noun)
A film or program presenting facts about a real subject.
This excerpt comes from a BBC documentary on justice.
stage (a debate) (verb)
To organize and present an event or discussion.
Sandel stages a debate between a Kantian and a utilitarian.
insist (verb)
To state something firmly and refuse to change one's position.
The Kantian insists dignity forbids using anyone purely as a means.
frame (an issue) (verb)
To present or describe a situation in a particular way.
The utilitarian frames the failure to act as a real choice.
articulate (verb)
To express an idea clearly in words.
You should be able to articulate both positions in the debate.
press (an argument) (verb)
To push or insist on a point in a discussion.
The discussion presses whether numbers change the moral answer.
real-life (adjective)
Actually happening, not imagined or hypothetical.
This is a real-life case from Germany, not a thought experiment.
confidently (adverb)
In a way that shows certainty or firm belief.
The utilitarian confidently argues that inaction is itself a choice.

Chapters

From the YouTube description

To register for the 2015 course, visit https://www.edx.org/course/justice-harvardx-er22-1x-0.

Is torture ever justified? What if innocent lives are at stake? This excerpt from the BBC documentary "Justice: A Citizen's Guide to the 21st Century" examines the debate between Kantians and utilitarians on human dignity.

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