Includes bibliographical references and index.

Acknowledgments -- Introduction -- The phenomenon of torture -- Torture : what is it? : a definition of the field of inquiry -- Torturous societies -- Social actors of torture -- A psychoanalytic understanding of torture -- Paradoxical multiple self states and monolithic self states : destinies of the reflective triangle -- The emotional life of torturous societies : monolithic societal states -- The splintered reflective triangle in bystanders, perpetrators and victims of torture -- Implications for human rights -- The permissibility of torture -- Three fields of application in human rights : responsibility of perpetrators, reparation of victims and the problem of truth.

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