Cannibalism?

The eating of one's own species.
'A story once told of a group of immigrants from Mexico trying to float their way into America with the use of a small boat. 8 men in all, drifting for 4 weeks in the hot sun and cold nights, with only small meals to feed them, comparable to 4 days worth. After a long and sickening night sleep, each memeber woke up one by one. That is except for one man. He seemed to have died from lack of nutrients. The crew had little choice and decided to push the body over board before it would attract all sorts of horrible things. The next few days, another man died. And then another and another before only 4 men were left in the boat. Here, was where the crew had decided that the next one to die would offer up his body to the rest of the survivors to keep them going for another say.
The day came that the 4th fatality had occured. The last of the men fed on his corpse in disgust. 3 hours later, they were rescued by coast guards.'

Now, the story may only be an urban legend, but still the question remains.
Is it right to eat the body of the same species?

 

They say it's morally incorrect, they say it's disgusting, but would I do it? Yeah. I'm not saying I'd murder someone to eat their flesh but if I were in a life-and-death situation, I would eat another human being. Think about it: Were any other animal in a life-and-death situation, would they hesitate to eat one of their own? Probably not. All animals have a built-in instinct to survive. And no matter how revolting you may find it, it's simply another part of survival. Accept it.

 

Depending on the situation. As a last resource, yeah. But to purposefully eat your own species for no apparent reason? That's disgusting. I agree with what TacoGrenade posted about animals eating their own kind and the life-or-death situation. I really couldn't see myself eating another human raw.

 

Most of the cannibalism is done in ritual purposes. I have no reason for those.

 

I would but only if i knew if i didnt i would die. thats because if either one or both of you are gonna die i would prefer only 1

 

Gee, the only possible scenario for me to eat another, but dead, human being would be if there was absolutely no other food left on the planet and my only possible chance of survival, for another few days anyways, would be to eat someone else, then yeah why not, I bet we taste like chicken.

 

I wouldn't even if it is a life or death situtation. It's morally incorrect.

 

Whether cannibalism is wrong or right really depends on the situation. I mean if you eat a dead human body to survive, then its not really that bad but if you eat a person just because you like the taste of a human being then thats when its morally incorrect.

 

I think that cannibalism is fine, provided you have the consent of the dead person, even if it isn't a life or death situation. Some people have quirky tastes. If there are those who don't mind pandering to their tastes, we should allow it. China eats cats and the rest of the world can eat strange stuff too. Provided the person was not murdered, it seems perfectly reasonable that we leave them to their own devices.

If it comes down to a matter of life and death, I'd disregard any notion of requiring permission. They're dead, the eater is not. Seems like a no brainer as to which is more important.

 

Personally, I could never consider eating another human being unless I was in a situation such as what was listed initially as an example. I also have no reason to buy into the cultures that do cannibalism for religion etc. I find the act to be a thing that I would just not want to carry out but for the most dire circumstances of survival.

Having said that, I cannot truly say that if someone who died gave clearance for an act of cannibalism, that I could tell someone else he/she should not do so. To kill someone for cannibalistic acts to me is very wrong, but if someone is willing to let his or her body be used for it and someone else wants to eat it, as gross as I find the idea, it's what those people want to do. The problem though comes in to play that someone may be convinced to do allow such a thing under pressure and so I can see why laws would be in place to prevent allowing such a thing. However, since I believe that a body that has died is of no real importance but to those who will miss the person, I can't really just outward right say 'oh hell no' to some legitimate, non-pressured agreement.

 

As far as pressure goes, we've already got a lot of that among the dead. With wills, organ donations and final rites around, I doubt cannibalism is going to be the most pressuring thing for a person at death's door. They are far more likely to be pressurized about their wealth, their body or their religious customs as opposed to whether their body can be eaten. We don't make organ donations illegal because the donor could pressurized into it, so cannibalism should follow in the same vein.

Speaking of which, why is it that people support organ donations but not cannibalism? If it's consensual, what difference does it make?

 

The difference would be that organ donation saves lives. Cannibalism does not save lives, but under the most dire of circumstances where no other food can be obtained. xD

 

<.<

Got me there.

What about those people who donate their blood so 'vampires' can drink it? Why don't they get any backlash?

Oh, right...

 

Because those people who give blood are generally still alive. >.>