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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Samuell Parris. 70 <strong>The</strong> strongest evidence <strong>of</strong> this is <strong>the</strong> fact that when Tituba confessed, it was not to <strong>the</strong><br />
maleficium that made up <strong>the</strong> common undertsading <strong>of</strong> witchcraft, or to <strong>the</strong> cunning-work that she had<br />
in fact per<strong>for</strong>med. Instead, Tituba confessed to being a member <strong>of</strong> a Satanic Conspiracy, a view that<br />
persisted among <strong>the</strong> learned and <strong>the</strong> elites ever since <strong>the</strong> publication in <strong>the</strong> 15 th Century <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Malleus<br />
Maleficarum. 71<br />
<strong>The</strong> deceptive cycle that characterized <strong>the</strong> Salem witch trials arose from a false belief in<br />
conspiracy, and <strong>the</strong> strategic environment that was generated as <strong>the</strong> Court attempted to uncover this<br />
perceived threat to society. <strong>The</strong> result was an explosion <strong>of</strong> denunciations as <strong>the</strong> afflicted used <strong>the</strong><br />
antiempirical nature <strong>of</strong> conspiracy to denounce <strong>the</strong>ir enemies, and <strong>the</strong> confessors denounced o<strong>the</strong>rs to<br />
make <strong>the</strong>mselves indispensible to <strong>the</strong> Court. This is <strong>the</strong> danger that torture <strong>for</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mation contains,<br />
and only <strong>the</strong> credible threat to investigate <strong>the</strong> stories told by <strong>the</strong> tortured – to make <strong>the</strong> absence <strong>of</strong><br />
torture contingent upon telling <strong>the</strong> truth – can prevent it from occurring. In Salem <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> spectral<br />
testimony replaced this commitment to empiricism, allowing <strong>the</strong> Court's prior beliefs to become ever-<br />
more entrenched with every confession. Newton's findings regarding <strong>the</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> eye-sight fatally<br />
undermined spectral testimony, but <strong>the</strong> Court would not be convinced to ignore afflicted visions until a<br />
critical mass <strong>of</strong> confessors began to recant – a process that could only occur once <strong>the</strong> incentive to<br />
confess and denounce had already collapsed under <strong>the</strong> weight <strong>of</strong> an ever expanding population <strong>of</strong><br />
suspects. In <strong>the</strong> following chapters, I will examine <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong> torture to uncover conspiracies that<br />
actually exist, by authorities unburdened by beliefs in unempirical <strong>for</strong>ms <strong>of</strong> evidence. <strong>The</strong>se authorities<br />
were in a position to verify coerced in<strong>for</strong>mation to at least some degree: could <strong>the</strong>y credibly threaten to<br />
do so? Could <strong>the</strong>y prevent <strong>the</strong> deceptive cycle from occurring?<br />
70 That <strong>the</strong> Court found no obvious marks on her body is no bar to this hypo<strong>the</strong>sis. Non-scarring methods were used on<br />
slaves as a matter <strong>of</strong> course: scars signalled to prospective buyers that <strong>the</strong> slave was a trouble-maker, and so degraded<br />
<strong>the</strong> value <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> human 'asset.' (Rejali 2007)<br />
71 See Chapter 2 <strong>for</strong> a larger discussion <strong>of</strong> this text and its impact on elite undertsnadings <strong>of</strong> witchcraft.<br />
74