Cannibalism

Do you consider cannibalism to be intrinsically immoral? Why?

On occasion I think it's a good idea to play devil's advocate or simply question some things we take to be true, regardless of whether they are actually true. I want you guys to understand I am not arguing for legalization of cannibalism or suggesting you go out and eat people. Re-read the first sentence of this post. It says nothing about legalization or recommendations to eat people.

Here are some things I think are worth thinking about:
-Any arguments against something being unnatural is not a valid argument. Lots of things are unnatural. Like computers. There are also other animals that eat each other.

-It may cause diseases. That's just for the person eating. If he gets fucked, that's his problem. People do unhealthy shit to themselves all the time.

-Arguments about violation of the rights of the deceased isn't an argument about the intrinsic immorality of cannibalism but the immorality of cannibalism without prior consent. Having sex with a person without consent is immoral but it does not make sex itself immoral. Consequences of actions are situational and must of course be judged for each situation, but they do not make the act itself immoral.

-Obviously cannibalism that follows murder is immoral. But for the sake of argument, that's not what I'm talking about. Assume the person that's dead would be perfectly cool with you eating him or her.

-Arguments about family and friends being sad would be irrelevant given a person has no relatives that know about or care or are still alive. One has to balance the feelings of family members versus personal freedom versus the need for food, ei, is human flesh all that is available as food for the time being? This is a more complex question but one that does not render all of cannibalism regardless of the situation to be immoral.

-Arguments about cannibalism is wrong because it leads to 'universal widespread abhorrence': Are wrong. Some cultures are fine with eating other humans. In fact, in the past humans used to eat humans all the freakin' time. What one particular culture feels about an action isn't an argument. We can also reverse the argument: You may feel child pornography is wrong, child rape is wrong, child marriages are wrong, but past cultures have found it acceptable enough. In short, how people used to or still feel about an issue isn't a valid argument.

On top of that, the fact that many people have an opinion does not prove anything. This is an argument ad populum, a logical fallacy. You can feel guilty for something you've done that's not necessarily immoral; if I run over a dead cat with a car, I'd feel disgusted and some would feel guilty, saying 'poor cat' even though the cat is already dead. I consider something to be immoral when it unfairly visits suffering to an individual. Dead people can't suffer. If dead people had feelings, how would their bones feel being buried in a wooden box and then stuff under dirt? Or perhaps we cremate bodies, in which case it's worse than eating it, we've utterly obliterated their body. If a person asked to be eaten once dead, how can this possibly go against the wish of the once-alive person?

-This is not an argument for legalization of cannibalism, this is purely an academic, hypothetical discussion. This term has raised some hackles so let me clarify: This is discussing the concept, whether it is moral or inherently immoral and has no bearing on actual changes in policy. I call it 'academic' because instead of convincing you of a change in policy or importance of my message, I'm merely debating to try to glean some new insight, in this case, insight on cannibalism. This means, any argument about how tricky it is to implement legalization of cannibalism is completely irrelevant and attacking this would be a strawman. Saying allowing cannibalism leads to a slippery slope or necessarily leads to issues due to supply/murder for cannibalism/etc is also a strawman.

-In addition, just because something is currently illegal does not mean something is immoral. That's a non-sequitur.

-The argument isn't that it causes happiness, therefore cannibalism is not immoral. It's that it does not visit unfair suffering to the parties involved. Instead, cannibalism offends our sensibilities, somewhat irrationally. Ensure your argument is not an appeal to emotion, brought about by socialization and conditioning.

-Please do not make personal attacks against me, this is purely a hypothetical, something I think is interesting.

"
-It may cause diseases."
why?

Well human meat is just bit hard to cook =p besides should taste like pork!

I feel that this is a tough question... I think one will know his or her stance on cannibalism should one ever come in a such dire situation. It's hard to think about when you've got a fridge full of food and numerous other possibilities.

About 50 years ago, a plane crashed in Chile or Argentina.  The ones who survived the crash, the avalanches, and the hypothermia, practiced cannibalism, but they agreed only on cannibalizing ones that died from natural causes.  It was in the movie Alive http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106246/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 and an episode of Dateline NBC.  I thought that I had heard that the current Pope at the time forgave them because they did it as a last resort.  In America, there was the Donner Party Tragedy.  One of the 2 camps at the Donner Party admitted to cannibalism.  However, they first ate animals, animal droppings, and possibly leather belts, before eating each other.  I thought that they agreed to do it only on the ones that died from natural causes.  It sounds like it would be traumatic to do even if it saved your life.  I thought that Hannibal committing cannibalism from Silence of The Lambs was poor white trash compared to those who do it only as a last resort for survival.

There was a very quiet guy in 1 or 2 of my college classes.  In one weekend, he put up about 100 posts on a university web site in a weekend against gay marriage 10 years ago.  He was a strange Christian using stereotypes.  He compared being gay to being Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, or Caesar.  In one of his posts he compared gay marriage to cannibalism.  What the freak was he thinking?  What would Freud say about that?

stathmk wrote:About 50 years ago, a plane crashed in Chile or Argentina.  The ones who survived the crash, the avalanches, and the hypothermia, practiced cannibalism, but they agreed only on cannibalizing ones that died from natural causes.  It was in the movie Alive http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106246/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 and an episode of Dateline NBC.  I thought that I had heard that the current Pope at the time forgave them because they did it as a last resort.  In America, there was the Donner Party Tragedy.  One of the 2 camps at the Donner Party admitted to cannibalism.  However, they first ate animals, animal droppings, and possibly leather belts, before eating each other.  I thought that they agreed to do it only on the ones that died from natural causes.  It sounds like it would be traumatic to do even if it saved your life.  I thought that Hannibal committing cannibalism from Silence of The Lambs was poor white trash compared to those who do it only as a last resort for survival.

There was a very quiet guy in 1 or 2 of my college classes.  In one weekend, he put up about 100 posts on a university web site in a weekend against gay marriage 10 years ago.  He was a strange Christian using stereotypes.  He compared being gay to being Judas Iscariot, Pontius Pilate, or Caesar.  In one of his posts he compared gay marriage to cannibalism.  What the freak was he thinking?  What would Freud say about that?

Well some people think people who are obssessed with gay marriage and how they hate gays are closet gays themselves. Who else thinks about guys fucking all the time? I don't.
Sex preference is like coffee preference. Why other people are bothered by my coffee preference is beyond me. This is a serious comment, too. For every preference, every fact about you, there are people who discriminate against you for it. You can't win. For liking some bands people will give you crap. For liking sex this way, people will give you crap.

Atina wrote:"
-It may cause diseases."
why?

Well human meat is just bit hard to cook =p besides should taste like pork!

I read that cannibalism may on rare occasions cause neural diseases from prions.
I'm not sure about the percentage chance. But I believe mad cow problem occurred from cows being fed food with cow meat in it.

yeah prions in mad cow disease came from feeding cows cow-meat. But you need to remember cows don't normally eat meat, that was main problem. Many other animals are cannibals but such problem doesn't occure.

btw does your steak poll have anything to do with this topic? ><

Atina wrote:yeah prions in mad cow disease came from feeding cows cow-meat. But you need to remember cows don't normally eat meat, that was main problem. Many other animals are cannibals but such problem doesn't occure.

btw does your steak poll have anything to do with this topic? ><

Nope. The poll was made months before this thread was even dreamed up. I cooked steak for the first time back then, that is why.

 

We need a cow emoticon in here...

Just adapt Per-Scan's avatar

I was thinking the same thing. You just need to moooooove it to the smilies section!

Dark_wizzie wrote:Well some people think people who are obssessed with gay marriage and how they hate gays are closet gays themselves. Who else thinks about guys fucking all the time? I don't.
Sex preference is like coffee preference. Why other people are bothered by my coffee preference is beyond me. This is a serious comment, too. For every preference, every fact about you, there are people who discriminate against you for it. You can't win. For liking some bands people will give you crap. For liking sex this way, people will give you crap.

I'm not offended by this comment, but I'm not gay, and not a homophobe.  I also don't understand why a man would love a man, but that doesn't mean that I subjugate and dehumanize them as some people do.  Gay marriage should be legalized in all 50 states so that whenever 2 monogamous gays get married it frees up 2 chicks who are more fish in the sea for me!

I typed, "What would Freud say about that?"  I had forgotten to type, "A Freudian slip is when you say one thing and mean your mother."

stathmk wrote:

Dark_wizzie wrote:Well some people think people who are obssessed with gay marriage and how they hate gays are closet gays themselves. Who else thinks about guys fucking all the time? I don't.
Sex preference is like coffee preference. Why other people are bothered by my coffee preference is beyond me. This is a serious comment, too. For every preference, every fact about you, there are people who discriminate against you for it. You can't win. For liking some bands people will give you crap. For liking sex this way, people will give you crap.

I'm not offended by this comment, but I'm not gay, and not a homophobe.  I also don't understand why a man would love a man, but that doesn't mean that I subjugate and dehumanize them as some people do.  Gay marriage should be legalized in all 50 states so that whenever 2 monogamous gays get married it frees up 2 chicks who are more fish in the sea for me!

I typed, "What would Freud say about that?"  I had forgotten to type, "A Freudian slip is when you say one thing and mean your mother."

I think anybody that would get offended about my comment needs to get their head checked, lol.

JDMGD0 wrote:Just adapt Per-Scan's avatar

Oh, perscan we so miss you.

Some of The Jehovah’s Witnesses consider it cannibalism to receive a blood transfusion.  I’ve donated blood over 40 times over the years and I’m not a Jehovah’s Witness.
 
Yesterday or the day before that, I had heard on the radio that one of the counties or states passed a law on New Year’s Day making it illegal to eat placentas.  In some parts of the world they bury the placenta under roots, and let the nutrients get absorbed up the roots into the orange or other food.  I don’t know if certain cultures consider it cannibalism.