This study examines the morality of torturing a child to prevent someone else from nuking a major city. Specifically, the
paper looks at the issue from the perspective of Immanuel Kant, John Stuart Mill, and this writer themselves. The paper claims that based on his categorical imperative, Kant would definitely not find the
torture of a child
permissible in this or any other situation; Mill could conceivably approve such torture, based on the principles of utilitarianism; and this writer would in no circumstances find such torture morally permissible, simply because it would be better to destroy the entire planet than to have its survival dependent on the torture of an innocent child.