2013/12/01 by Rachel Ablow · 1 citation
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · Psychology · #Torture, Ethics, and Law #War, Ethics, and Justification #Gothic Literature and Media Analysis #Sympathy #Appeal #Relation (database) #Humanity #Exploit #Pain and suffering #Psychoanalysis #Sociology #Psychology #History #Social psychology #Law #Political science #Computer security #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1353/elh.2013.0037
openalex publication_date 2013/12/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
This essay argues that much of the continuing appeal of the ticking time-bomb scenario has to do with the way it exploits deeply held beliefs regarding the relation between pain, sympathy, and the definition of the human that originated in the nineteenth century. These beliefs include the notion that sympathy precludes the infliction of pain; that sympathy is constitutive of humanity; and that in relation to certain kinds of subjects, pain does, in fact, elicit truth.