GLOBAL DIALOGUE Volume 12 ● Number 1 ● Winter/Spring 2010—Working the Dark Side

What Would Jack Do? The Ethics of Torture in 24

DONAL P. O’MATHUNA

Donal P. O’Mathuna is senior lecturer in ethics, decision-making and evidence at Dublin City University, Ireland. He has served as an ethicist on a number of ethics committees, and has published widely on bioethics.

ecent discussions of torture often refer to examples or dilemmas portrayed in the popular television series, 24. Each season covers the unfolding drama of a twenty-four-hour period during which terrorists attempt to cause devastation and mayhem across the United States. The action dramatically races from one crisis to another as the authorities just about manage to...