Pondering the ethics of the BodyWorlds exhibit
Recently, I visited the Body Worlds exhibit with some friends (one of whom was good enough to pay for my ticket). For those who don’t know, the exhibit displays plasticized (real) human bodies in multiple poses with various levels of emphasized details. One display might be a human with only the internal organs, one might have just the nervous system, and one might be the malformed body of an unborn child, all with detailed placards giving information about the display. One even had a human body sliced into about several sections about an inch thick, allowing you to every layer. They look like models except far more elaborate than any models you’d find made artificially. The website is available here: http://www.bodyworlds.com, but you may wish to use caution in visiting as it displays the bodies on the front page.
As I walked through the exhibit, my friend Sarah asked me what I thought about the ethics of the display. I had given it some though before. Was it right to have these bodies on display? Granted, there have been claims that not all of the bodies were donated as the exhibit claims, but while that would make things worse, I think we can examine the ethical questions even if they exhibit people are telling the truth.
Now I should say that I don’t think that is unethical in and of itself for doctors and scientists to examine the remains of the deceased. But one must consider motive. Those doctors study human bodies in order to help the living. Therefore, they do this out of an appreciation for human life.
Can one do the same with this exhibit? I’m think so. A med school or nursing student could easily benefit from walking around the exhibit and taking notes, but most of the people there (including myself) aren’t doing that. I asked myself some questions. Do people visit this exhibit out of a desire to learn or be entertained? Is it a freak show? Does charging a fee to get in make a difference? Does this make people appreciate the human body more, or do they regard it as mere tissue after seeing this exhibit? Perhaps the most disconcerting question I asked myself was this: Does this exhibit make it easy to forget that I’m looking at the remains of people who lived, loved, fought and prayed? For me, I must say it was extremely easy to forget. Perhaps my Christian worldview reveals itself here. Whereas in some religions like Buddhism where one must escape the physical to be enlightened, Christian theology teaches that God created the human bodies as part of an original good design and that believers will actually have new, physical bodies in eternity. Nevertheless, the more I think about it, the more I feel that this exhibit pushes a line (if it hasn’t already crossed it long ago).
I wrote this because I am interested in what other people think. Do you agree? Disagree? Post your comments.
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