The Morality of Torture

This is mostly just stream of consciousness thought after one of my classes. We were talking about whether or not it is ever okay to torture. Most people were taking the utilitarian side where the consequences of the action far outweigh the costs, in certain cases. This bothers me a lot.

In the U.S., torture is a worse punishment than death. how can a country not believe in cruel and unusual punishment but believe in the death penalty? Does it follow that we can kill for information, but not torture?

Is torture worse than death? Is torture acceptable in circumstances when it prevents death? In consequentialism, there could be debate on whether the torture of one person to save a second is justified. But 1000? One million? Is there a number of lives saved where torture becomes not only justifiable, but morally good. Does it ever become something that ought to be done?

Is that world one I would be okay to live? A place I would be proud to call home? Is it wrong to say that there are no circumstances where where torture is acceptable? This would make me irrational to a lot people, I suspect. Is that bad? They could be right.

I think there must be some way to make the case that torture is wrong in every instance, even from a utilitarian mindset. The value lost to torture is hard to quantify, but it is immense. The United States Constitution says so.

But at the same I have many problems with absolutism in morality. The most important question to me is this: Are human rights absolute? Libertarians might be inclined to say yes. The western world in general things so. Many Asian countries with less individualistic and more collective ideas of society would say that human rights are relative. Is one right? Is one better? Are "Asian human rights" just as legitimate as western human rights?

I don't know. There are so many additional variables to look at, too. How effective is torture? What's considered torture? How can we violate the Geneva convention and still see ourselves as Exceptional and leading the pack towards a better world? Why is anyone okay with torture?