[sneak]

> No right is absolute

What about the right to life, or the right to not be tortured?

[noir-york]

Right to life is not absolute, otherwise there would be no army; nice thought, but not going to happen.

Right to not be tortured is debatable

No right is absolute, and there is no single hierarchy of rights. Read Isaiah Berlin's seminal Four Essays on Liberty on why.

[sneak]

If the right to not be tortured is debatable, why do you refuse to debate me when I assert that it is absolute?

[noir-york]

I'd love to debate you on it, but first I need to formulate my own thoughts.

Prima facie, there may be a case for there to be an absolute right not to be tortured, but depending on the moral framework - utilitarian, say - one can make a case for allowing torture in specific circumstances. Hence, not an absolute right.