It is the ultimate taboo. In most societies, the idea of one human being eating another human being is morally repugnant. We still oppose cannibalism even in situations where it could possibly be justified, such as when a plane crashed in the Andes in 1972 and starving passengers ate the dead to survive. I have a deep aversion to it. One survivor, Roberto Canessa, later described the passengers' actions as “a descent into our ultimate humiliation”.
Ethically, cannibalism causes fewer problems than you might think. If a body can be bequeathed with medical consent, why can't it be left behind?
Source: www.newscientist.com
