Anatomy, Ethics of

The article begins with the debate on posthumous harm. Dignified treatment of the dead is construed as a unipolar moral duty, as a duty of agents of action, not duty to recipients of action. The value of human dignity is introduced when personal autonomy has weak or no moral power at all. Dignified treatment of the dead prohibits the treatment of human remains as raw material or waste. Western culture endorses the uses of human remains within medical, educational, and similar public contexts. Emerging trends in anatomy education are discussed as well. The article aims to contextualize the ethics of anatomy with other problems related to the dead such as organ transplantation.