Truth serum torture destroys victims’ capacity to distinguish true from false

Evidence

The divorce of truth from discourse and action—the instrumentalization of com- munication—has not merely increased the incidence of propaganda; it has disrupted the very notion of truth, and therefore the sense by which we take our bearings in the world is destroyed. — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 378 (#expands, via linked claim)

The resort to torture poses moral problems that are just as germane to the world today as they were to the period under consideration. As Jean-Paul Sartre wrote in 1958, “Torture is neither civilian nor military, nor is it specifically French: it is a plague infecting our whole era.” But what is immediately of importance here is the influence, or influences, brought to bear by it upon the subsequent course of the Algerian war. And these were very potent indeed. It is one of the most difficult things in this world to establish the truth about torture; whether it did or did not take place, and the nature and scale of it. The plaintiff is as unlikely to tell the unadorned truth as his oppressor; for it is so superlative a propaganda weapon given into his hands. — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Coerced confessions force victims to accept fabrications as truth; Torture’s ambiguous truth makes it a potent propaganda weapon for both sides — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580; Physical conditions and scientific torture can destroy human will-power — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1080 (+15 more)

Related

• Torture’s ambiguous truth makes it a potent propaganda weapon for both sides (similarity 0.86)
• Torture persisted because it revealed truth and displayed power (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Coerced confessions force victims to accept fabrications as truth #expands (0.80)
• Instrumentalized communication destroys the possibility of shared truth #expands (0.60) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 378
• Torture’s ambiguous truth makes it a potent propaganda weapon for both sides #complicates (0.55) — Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Algeria 1954-1962, 580
• Torture is distinguished from brutality by its systematic purpose of extraction #qualifies (0.50)
• Instrumentalizing communication has destroyed our sense of truth itself #corroborates (0.50) — James W. Carey, Communication as Culture- Essays on…, 378
• Physical conditions and scientific torture can destroy human will-power #exemplifies (0.45) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 1080