# I want to start ethical cannibalism **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 2, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146 "2013-08-02T12:25:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/1 "2013-08-02T12:25:24Z")
This all stems from a discussion I had a long time ago with some friends where the idea met with interest. Lets say that to give others the chance to taste human flesh, someone would volunteer their corpse before death like organ donation. They could specify who gets to eat parts of them etc. Would there be legal obstacles to this? It just seems like such a shame that no one gets to eat human flesh without murdering people, or unethically stealing parts of a corpse. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/2 "2013-08-02T13:16:06Z")
_backs away slowly_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/3 "2013-08-02T13:27:15Z")
You would need some way of being very, very certain that all people involved were consenting and of sound mind, and that all deaths were due to causes completely unrelated to the other cannibals. The bit about proving everyone was of sound mind would be especially difficult, given that most people would regard the desire to eat human flesh as itself evidence of an unsound mind. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/4 "2013-08-02T13:34:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The bit about proving everyone was of sound mind would be especially difficult, given that most people would regard the desire to eat human flesh as itself evidence of an unsound mind. Well only because it involves killing someone first, if the flesh was donated it stops being so crazy. I would be cool with donating my own body for such, but I’d worry about relatives attempting to interfere. ---
**Author:** ![Girlundone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/919ad9/32.png) [@Girlundone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girlundone)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/5 "2013-08-02T13:50:16Z")
Let’s discuss this over dinner. At my house. Come alone. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/6 "2013-08-02T13:58:09Z")
[Kuru disease.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)) Did you see _The Book of Eli_? Consume at your own risk. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/7 "2013-08-02T14:01:34Z")
I must say that having heard of what 's involved with raising Kobe beef that my carcass, and certainly those of many others, would enjoy such a designation. ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/8 "2013-08-02T14:04:18Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > most people would regard the desire to eat human flesh as itself evidence of an unsound mind. See, I feel this way about Brussels sprouts and haggis. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/9 "2013-08-02T14:19:33Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > [Kuru disease.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuru_(disease)) > Did you see _The Book of Eli_? Consume at your own risk. Flesh is not brain.😛 ---
**Author:** ![manila](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@manila](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manila)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/10 "2013-08-02T14:21:14Z")
> [@ducati](#): > > See, I feel this way about Brussels sprouts and haggis. I must be strange in that I love Brussels sprouts and Haggis, (espicially authentic Haggis which includes lung, which I believe is totally off the menu in the US) But what I do balk at is uncastrated boar’s meat! Actually, it doesn’t matter whether it is pig, ram or any other protein, if it is flavoured with testosterone, am not partial. So we talking about eating women here? I’ve eaten placenta ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/11 "2013-08-02T15:11:06Z")
The thing many people don’t realize is the meat we eat comes from really young animals - about teenagers. Meat from people who participated in this is likely to be tough and chewy. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/12 "2013-08-02T15:59:21Z")
Don’t eat me, eat Dredd! He works out! ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/13 "2013-08-02T16:19:02Z")
> [@grude](#): > > It just seems like such a shame that no one gets to eat human flesh without murdering people, or unethically stealing parts of a corpse. There are _so many_ things in life that are a shame. It’s a shame that foods that taste good are fattening. It’s a shame that work lasts five days and the weekend only lasts two. It’s a shame that my allergies always kick in when the weather is nice. But the unavailability of human flesh never . . . never even once . . . struck me as a “shame”! ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/14 "2013-08-02T16:19:17Z")
what if you had a gammy leg? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/15 "2013-08-02T16:21:49Z")
If we get to the point where we can 3D-print or otherwise synthesize accurate replicas of human meat, without any actual humans involved as sources, will it still be wrong? Stepping back a little, if we can take a sample of flesh from an existing human volunteer, and put it in a vat and cause it to grow and be harvested, is _that_ wrong? Stepping hack a little more, what if the source donated a limb or a kidney, but was otherwise alive and healthy? Is that wrong? If so, how does that differ from, say, biting one’s nails? You don’t have to kill anyone to enter the ethical swamp of cannibalism. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/16 "2013-08-02T16:31:47Z")
Soylent Green is tasty! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/17 "2013-08-02T16:36:03Z")
The first thought that came to my mind was that John Prine song, “Please Don’t Bury Me.” > [@](#): > > Please don’t bury me > Down in that cold cold ground > No, I’d druther have “em” cut me up > And pass me all around Then I remembered “Stranger in a Strange Land” and I guess the OP just wants to be grokked in all his fullness. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/18 "2013-08-02T16:38:33Z")
I just checked Mark Biittman’s cookbook on how to cook Everything. He has no recipes for Long Pig, but I’m sure that haggis and brussel sprouts would be awful. I suggest a nice Chianti with fava beans. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/19 "2013-08-02T16:49:18Z")
I knew a philapino man who was a young child when the Japanese had invaded the Philipines. He told me that on more than one occassion when they were able to kill a Japanese soldier they prepared and ate him just as they would have done a pig. He claimed that human meat was the best of all meats. I can’t say I believe this guy as he did have some pretty wild stories but he may have been telling the truth. I would much rather see scavengers eat my corpse than other humans. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2013, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146/20 "2013-08-02T17:44:54Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > If we get to the point where we can 3D-print or otherwise synthesize accurate replicas of human meat, without any actual humans involved as sources, will it still be wrong? > > Stepping back a little, if we can take a sample of flesh from an existing human volunteer, and put it in a vat and cause it to grow and be harvested, is _that_ wrong? > > Stepping hack a little more, what if the source donated a limb or a kidney, but was otherwise alive and healthy? Is that wrong? If so, how does that differ from, say, biting one’s nails? > > You don’t have to kill anyone to enter the ethical swamp of cannibalism. [Someone asked about it.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7288287&postcount=45) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-want-to-start-ethical-cannibalism/665146.md?page=2)