No he stated his moral position (that torture is wrong) first, and then at the end of his answer appended "and of course it is ineffective, but that is another story".
The problem here is, what if studies showed torture really did work? Would he have the same, up front moral position? I think that's what parent was trying to allude to. Not whether he is morally opposed to it right now but if he's more of a "if it works I'll use it no matter what" type of person.
But that just calls into question a person's character and it's going to be impossible to dig down and find a satisfying answer for everyone. So I'm not sure how fruitful this is.
But that just calls into question a person's character and it's going to be impossible to dig down and find a satisfying answer for everyone. So I'm not sure how fruitful this is.