The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
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it was precisely in <strong>the</strong>se terms that opponents <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> trials such as Robert Calef had been arguing – that<br />
<strong>the</strong> Salem trials resembled nothing so much as <strong>the</strong> dreaded witch-hunts <strong>of</strong> Europe. 56<br />
Ma<strong>the</strong>r concluded his attack on <strong>the</strong> empirical foundations <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> proceedings by stating in<br />
startlingly strong terms that “[i]t were better that ten suspected witches should escape, than that one<br />
innocent person should be condemned.” This statement inverted <strong>the</strong> accepted understanding <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
crisis: that <strong>the</strong> whole <strong>of</strong> society was so endangered by sorcery, by <strong>the</strong> vast witch conspiracy, that only<br />
extraordinary measures could root out <strong>the</strong> infection, and to do less might be to allow <strong>the</strong> whole to<br />
sicken and die. But Ma<strong>the</strong>r's arguments were not new – he had merely collected, argued, and given his<br />
considerable imprimatur as <strong>the</strong> most respected minister on <strong>the</strong> continent to ideas that had circulated<br />
(both in words and in print) <strong>for</strong> months. None<strong>the</strong>less, with Ma<strong>the</strong>r now firmly against <strong>the</strong> trials (until<br />
such time as passions could begin to cool) <strong>the</strong> authorities began to worry that <strong>the</strong>y had innocent blood<br />
on <strong>the</strong>ir hands.<br />
Since <strong>the</strong> court <strong>of</strong> Oyer and Terminer had been adjourned until November, <strong>the</strong> elites had time to<br />
consider how to proceed. <strong>The</strong> judges <strong>the</strong>mselves were split on <strong>the</strong> issue: some, like William Stoughton,<br />
were convinced that <strong>the</strong> conspiracy was real, and that delay could only allow <strong>the</strong> Devil to streng<strong>the</strong>n his<br />
grip on <strong>the</strong> community; o<strong>the</strong>rs, like Samuel Sewall (gripped with panic at his part in <strong>the</strong> proceedings)<br />
and Nathaniel Saltonstall (who ended up resigning, and was himself accused) were certain that<br />
something had gone horribly wrong. (Boyer and Nissenbaum, p. 32) On October 29 th , <strong>the</strong> Royal<br />
Governor William Phips ordered <strong>the</strong> Court permanently adjourned – just three days be<strong>for</strong>e it was<br />
scheduled to reconvene. (Roach, pp. 325-326) He may have been helped in his decision by rumors that<br />
his own wife had been named a witch – and while this need not have meant an examination (much less<br />
a trial), it must have given him clear evidence that rumors <strong>of</strong> witchcraft could attach to anyone, guilty<br />
or innocent. (ibid. p. 304; Boyer and Nissenbaum, p. 32) In ei<strong>the</strong>r case, Phips reported to <strong>the</strong> Clerk <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>the</strong> Privy Council in London that “<strong>The</strong> Devil hath taken upon him <strong>the</strong> name and shape <strong>of</strong> several<br />
persons who were doubtless innocent and to my certain knowledge <strong>of</strong> good reputation.” (Gragg, p. 176)<br />
When special courts were ordered to reexamine <strong>the</strong> evidence against <strong>the</strong> accused – this time without <strong>the</strong><br />
acceptance <strong>of</strong> spectral testimony by <strong>the</strong> court – all <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> remaining suspects were ei<strong>the</strong>r acquitted or<br />
pardoned over <strong>the</strong> next several months.<br />
56 Interestingly, <strong>the</strong> states most brutally engaged in <strong>the</strong> anti-witch project tended to be just those enlightened Protestant<br />
regimes that <strong>the</strong> Puritans sought to emulate – Spain, Portugal and <strong>the</strong> Italian statelets rarely engaged in <strong>the</strong> practice,<br />
preferring instead to hunt heretics, with remarkably similar effects. (Golden, p. 413; Reuthven)<br />
56