In the United States legal system, torture is currently defined as “an act committed by a person acting under color of law, specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental health (other than pain or suffering resulting from legal sanctions) upon another person under his or her physical custody or control.” as defined by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel, United States House of Representatives (United States Code, 1) Although this is a seemingly black and white definition, the conditional "... other than pain or suffering resulting from legal sanctions..." has led many to wonder what exactly this entails. In other words, what are the legal sanctions that allow such acts? Are they ethically right? Where is the line drawn on torture in this sense? Various topics are offered. To test what each ethical theory would say about the justification of such acts, I am using the “time bomb” thought experiment. Simply put, this experiment provides a hypothetical scenario in which an individual is privy to vital information regarding the disarmament of an active weapon that could potentially kill millions of individuals. (Wiki 1) Do we torture the individual? The norm is that consequentialist (teleological) theories appear to have an almost universal position of support, while non-consequentialist (deontological and natural rights) theories represent almost all of the opposition. (Wiki 2) However, as you will learn, it is not as clearly defined as you might think. Utilitarianism is roughly defined as procedurally or morally right only if it benefits the majority of everyone. (Jacon 5,8; 1) Following this model only as regards the procedure, the action of torturing a suspect seems, without a doubt, just…….middle of paper……cyclopedia. Network. .Stanford 1“Torture”. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Network. .NYT 1Slackman, Michael. "The World: A Dangerous Calculation; What's Wrong with Torturing a Higher-Up Qaeda Member? - New York Times." Newspaper.HR 1"Human rights basics" Amnesty International USA | Protect human rights. Web...Bible 1"Judges 21:25b." The Holy Bible; Old Testament. NKJV Print.NY 1“Ethics in the Unethical: An Interview with an FBI Interrogator” The New Yorker. Newspaper. http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/070219fa_fact_mayerBible 2"Matthew 7:12a." The Holy Bible; Old Testament. NKJV Print.JasonJason, Gary. Print “Anthology for the introduction to business ethics”..