Argentine torture doctor
anecdote · personal/autobiographical ·
retold in 3 talks
Žižek recounts meeting a distant relative of his ex-wife in Argentina, a doctor who served the military dictatorship by medically examining prisoners to certify how much torture they could withstand. He says he would be ready to poison this man, because doing a 'merely technical' job in the service of evil is morally equivalent to committing it.
As told 2
“I met a doctor who confessed to me… his job was to examine that prisoner and give a precise analysis you can do this to this guy and he will not suffer consequences”
“Oh, I just said my opinion, it was all correct, I didn’t do anything.”
What it carries
one story, many jobs: the ideas this anecdote is deployed to argue, one tally mark per use (an idea page shows the same relation from the other end, as its shelf of stories)
Its cast and sources
populated by
Colin Farrell1Keira Knightley1Téa Leoni1Liv Tyler1Ben Affleck1Bruce Willis1Anakin Skywalker1Vern Turner1
alongside works
Every retelling 2
Žižek recounts meeting a distant relative of his ex-wife in Argentina, a doctor who served the military dictatorship by medically examining prisoners to certify how much torture they could withstand. He says he would be ready to poison this man, because doing a 'merely technical' job in the service of evil is morally equivalent to committing it., illustrating systemic violence,complicity,violence condoning
A doctor in a Brazilian military dictatorship unit diagnoses torture limits for prisoners, claiming ethical neutrality by 'just giving his opinion' while enabling suffering., illustrating false self,ethics of the fall