--- Chris Doss <lookoverhere1 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> The effectiveness or lack thereof of torture is an
> emprical question. Is there data?
>
[WS:] Absolutely. This was precisely my point - it is impossible to determine this a priori, because there are compelling arguments for and against that effectiveness. What such a priori argument often demonstrate, however, is intellectual dishonesty of the proponent. BTW, I am not talking about you, Jordan, as I did comprehend your own position. I just responded to an argument that you quoted.
Going back to the empirical question - I am afraid that such questions cannot be answered becaosue of th elack of comparable data. Response to torture is very idiosyncratic and dependent on a multitude of factors.
To control for these factors, you would need to have a great number of observations, and moreover, observations on the hypothesized counterfactual i.e. effects of alternative means, everything else being equal. Assembling such a data set would be extremely difficult, if at al possible.
Wojtek
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