Human meat, yay or nay?

[Frenger]

Continuing from this thread

For now, I'd just like to concentrate on the actual consumption as opposed from how it is farmed or sourced.

So, on the face of it, is there something ethically wrong with eating human flesh for sustenance?

My gut says, yes, of course there is something ethically wrong with eating human meat, however, I can't think of a single ethical reason to justify that feeling.

It's clear that we value human life above other species, but why? Is this a simple case of speciesist, or is there a valid reason for elevating humans above other organisms.

So, this is a basic opening, have at it!

 

[he_who_is_nobody]

 

[Engelbert]

The question on the other thread which this is related to would give the question you ask here a slightly different nature imo.


The question you ask is simply about the consumption of human flesh.

In answer.

The taste would be one factor. If nice, then more likely to be considered. If not nice, then less likely to take off.
Its nutritional value. If this was good or bad, I suppose that would affect the issue.

So on those simplistic terms the answer could be yes, why not?


The reasons it would be troublesome are psychological and sociological as far as I can see and very dependent on the source of the meat. If they were rounding up orphans to throw in the grinder, or chopping up pedestrians who came too close to the factory, I would imagine some moralists would have some concerns... If they were growing synthetic human meat from stem cells, these moral issues would be less clear, leaving psychological and social issues as the main remaining obstacles to consider.

If there are potential medical issues with eating the same species, then those would be a problem too... like marrying your sister I suppose. But idk if they would exist...

 

[Inferno]

I'd go with David Mitchell's suggestion: When you die, your body reverts back to the state. Two options: It goes to science or into the freezer. "In the event of my death, tuck in."

 

[Visaki]

Personally I don't think I'd ever eat man, that's one line I'm not really wiling to cross. At least if there is an alternative food source avaivable (bunch of rugby players in the Andies come to mind). It's just a little bit too "eeeeeww" for me and I'd probably start wondering what kind of person did the meat come from. Was he free range or camp bred etc (yes, that is a joke).

But on a more broader take I do think that allowing cannibalism, even if the meat comes from what one might call ethical sources (natural deaths etc.), is a good idea. If people eat people some of them will start looking at fellow persons a bit less human and a bit more of a thing. This might lead to rise in the rates of murder and other violent crimes. So me opposing cannibalism comes really more from my oppinion that it's harmfull to society than from my oppinion that it's gross.

And finally for something to lighten the mood. If you can even use the word "lighten" when you're talking about Motörhead.

 

[Prolescum]

If my plane crashed up a massive mountain and some of the passengers had died, I'd eat them after the crisps and vodka were finished. Hard to think of examples outside that scenario where I'd be enamoured by the idea. Really, I wouldn't eat a sentient creature unless there were dire circumstances; no apes, no domesticated canines, no aquatic mammals.

 

[australopithecus]

I have no moral objections about eating people. Obviously killing them in the first place is completely off the table (puns), but if you die around me and I'm hungry, I'm afraid you're going to go well with some roast potatoes.

 

[Prolescum]

Just want to make this abundantly clear:

I do not, nor will I ever, own a plane.

 

[malicious_bloke]

I wouldn't object to it as a concept, but most of the people i've seen are pretty unappetising.

On a (hopefully) unrelated note, last night I encountered the hairiest pork scratching I have ever seen:

 

[Engelbert]

mmmm. yummy.

 

[PAB]

I'd go with David Mitchell's suggestion: When you die, your body reverts back to the state. Two options: It goes to science or into the freezer. "In the event of my death, tuck in."

I don't like to be pedantic, but upon death you wouldn't revert (back) to the state, i.e. go back to the "state" - as if - from whence you came. If the state took dead bodies for whatever (i quite liked the idea out of brave new world as using the dead as fuel) you would be physically usurped (unless you agree) by the state to which you already formally belong .

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" ..sort of thing..

 

[Inferno]

I'd go with David Mitchell's suggestion: When you die, your body reverts back to the state. Two options: It goes to science or into the freezer. "In the event of my death, tuck in."

I don't like to be pedantic, but upon death you wouldn't revert (back) to the state, i.e. go back to the "state" - as if - from whence you came. If the state took dead bodies for whatever (i quite liked the idea out of brave new world as using the dead as fuel) you would be physically usurped (unless you agree) by the state to which you already formally belong .

"Man is born free and everywhere he is in chains" ..sort of thing..

That any human is free is an illusion.
However, I don't think you're correct in your assessment. Humans are allowed to live for the well-being of others. If humans are counter-productive (i.e. killing others) then we kill them.
So humans already belong to the state, we just don't know it. When you are born, you already are property of the state because your parents are property of the state. When you live, the state temporarily grants you freedom, which allows you to live in other states. Then you die and your body is transported back to your country, so you "revert back to the state".

 

[Frenger]

But on a more broader take I do think that allowing cannibalism, even if the meat comes from what one might call ethical sources (natural deaths etc.), is a good idea. If people eat people some of them will start looking at fellow persons a bit less human and a bit more of a thing. This might lead to rise in the rates of murder and other violent crimes. So me opposing cannibalism comes really more from my oppinion that it's harmfull to society than from my oppinion that it's gross.

This makes a lot of sense. I suppose in a sense it would be dehumanising people to being simply a source of food, so in that sense yes, it certainly could be bad for society.

The only example I really know would be the Nazi's branding Jews as rats which I can think we can all agree, lead to some tricky social interactions.

 

[Frenger]

On a (hopefully) unrelated note, last night I encountered the hairiest pork scratching I have ever seen:

:shock:

 

[Frenger]

Just want to make this abundantly clear:

I do not, nor will I ever, own a plane.

You can borrow mine if you like?

 

[Laurens]

Eating animal meat as part of a healthy balanced diet does not pose any health risks.

Cannibalism if incorporated as part of ones diet does pose the risk of brain disease.

I'd say health issues do form part of our moral decisions and are based in objectively definable risks. However even if this is not the case it can be argued as a good reason not to eat human meat.

Clearly we view our fellow species members as inherently more valuable than members of another species. If a person was being attacked by a lion, you wouldn't dive in to stop someone from shooting the lion. We're all biased in this way, and any ethical system that failed to account for this would be useless. Even if we cannot pinpoint exactly why we feel this way, morally we are biased towards our species and thus it is natural to view eating animal meat in different terms to eating human flesh.

 

[Nemesiah]

The thing about human meat is that (supposedly) we acumulate the highest concentrations of toxins since we eat pretty much everything else (and thus their toxins) so I don't know how healthy it would be. If I'm stuck in the middle of the Andes then sure, but as a regular thing? I think not.

 

[Daealis]

I had a few back & forths on the subject few years back, when a news article of a german cannibal surfaced. The kicker was that the victim AGREED to be eaten. This cannibal was honest, he went online looking for someone who wished to be eaten, and found a fellow who wanted just that. They even shared a piece of the victim before he was finished off and eaten up completely.

This had several other curious questions raised, when he is accused of murder. I see it as an assisted suicide at best, comparable to euthanasia maybe. Consenting adults doing what they both wanted to. As far as I can tell, there's no law against assisted suicide in Germany, but I haven't followed up on the case since.

I have no objections of eating human flesh. There are health issues, sure, but what meat hasn't these days. I would probably take a second look if I saw some human flesh being sold at the nearest supermarket, and then most likely buy it to try it out. Morality and ethics comes at the method of killing, but since that was not being discussed here, I'm assuming it could be like in the news article, basically an assisted suicide and nothing going to waste.

Most bodies are wasted anyway. I don't believe in any kind of afterlife, so I cease to exist at the point of death and what is done to this skinflask afterwards is of no interest to me. I've been thinking about getting the paperwork done that my whole body is to be used for whatever suits anyone best, preferably science but if you can fashion cool lamps out of my shin bones. I should just get it done before I get into an accident and I'm dumped into the ground.

 

[Nemesiah]

We could use the human dead bodies to blend them into a fine paste and mix it with the soil so we could plant on them. Allow th bactery to break down th toxins and get really fertile soil.

 

[Nemesiah]

I wouldn't object to it as a concept, but most of the people i've seen are pretty unappetising.

On a (hopefully) unrelated note, last night I encountered the hairiest pork scratching I have ever seen:

I'm going to keep this picture and frame it "Reason #1 for going vegan: Not running into this"