What if you were stranded on an uncharted island in the middle of nowhere? You are without a phone, food, and medical supplies; not even a radio to contact anyone. You scavenge the area for wild game and find nothing. The trees are far too high to climb for fruit, if there is even any to begin with. Slowly one by one the survivors start to die for no apparent reason. Starving, you start to eat their bodies by building a fire and roasting them as if you would roast a pig. Of course, you feel guilty, but after all, you are starving. Cannibalism can be a survival technique in extreme cases such as these. Even though cannibalism is most commonly believed to be the epitome of savage behavior (Bell), cannibalism is not always for pleasure, it can also be a way to survive because cultures all over the world practice this act as part of religion and there is no real charge for eating another human being. If cannibalism is a crime, there should be laws to enforce its wrongdoing.
The first documented cannibalistic action that took place was when Christopher Columbus encountered the West Indies tribe that took part in the practice of eating human flesh (Arens). The act seen was part of a post war ritual. Cannibalism has been a part of history and religious practices for centuries. Therefore, how can we say that cannibalism is wrong? Although there is a huge difference between eating a fellow being to survive and eating one to achieve sexual gratification, cannibalism is more of a survival technique. There are many differences in killing a person to eat them and eating one that has already died. Cannibalism has been practiced in ethnic groups all over the world often takes part in the act in order to appease the gods of their culture. The vi...
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... First, Cultures all over the world practice this act as part of religion. However, most importantly, there is no real charge for eating another human being. Therefore something must be done. If cannibalism is wrong in all cases, even survival, then better laws must be reached to enforce those who have slipped through the cracks so easily. There is no evidence that cannibalism is anywhere close to slowing down, in fact studies show it is picking up speed and becoming more and more noticeable to the public eye. If nothing is done to put these individuals into their place, you could be the next main course.
Works Cited
Arens, W. "Cannibalism: Information from Answers.com." 2003. Answers. Web. 24 Apr 2011.
Bell, Rachael. "Cannibalism: The Ancient Taboo in Modern Times." TruTV. Web. 21 Apr 2011.
"Top 10 Cases of Human Cannibalism." List Verse. Web. 21 Apr 2011.
Execution by Hunger Miron Dolot. Execution By Hunger: New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 1985 Miron Dolot’s book, EXECUTION BY HUNGER, is a detailed account as seen through the eyes of a true survivor during the reign of Stalin and the Soviet Union between 1929-1933. In his accounts, he portrays atrocities against human civilization while documenting his real life experiences and those of his fellow Ukrainian village farmers. He portrays them as victims of their own time period.
Cannibalism is a long-standing taboo in our society; the thought of humans preying on other humans for a food source disgusts and astounds us. Though the practice is not common amongst modern day humans there is some evidence to suggest that ancient humans resorted to such measures, and a recent discovery in Madagascar attests to the possibility that some carnivorous dinosaurs fed on their own species (Perkins, 2003).
...lism is from the character of Shrimper when he enthusiastically tells Turner about “delicious long pork,” and closest portrayal of cannibalism is Jack Sparrows tentative nibble of toenail. It seems that while the filmmakers may not have offered an accurate portrayal of “Pelegostos” or Carib life, they may have inadvertently offered a relatively accurate portrayal of early European colonists’ misinterpretations of “Pelegostos” or Carib life. As stated previously, “Early chroniclers did not explore alternative interpretations of the circumstantial evidence for cannibalism. Bones might have been kept for religious reasons, or boiled and cleaned for use as tools, household items, or musical instruments” (Myers 177); however, a more accurate portrayal of the indigenous people would have been contrary to the implicit goal of the filmmakers: to entertain and make money.
Bell, Rachel. "Historical Perspective." All about Cannibalism: The Ancient Taboo in Modern Times. Crime Library, n.d. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
Christopher McCandless, a young American who was found dead in summer of 1992 in wild land in Alaska, wrote in his diary about his moral struggle regarding killing a moose for survival. According to Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild, Chris had to abandon most of the meat since he lacked the knowledge of how to dismantle and preserve it (166-168). Not only did he have a moral dilemma to kill a moose, but also had a deep regret that a life he had taken was wasted because of his own fault. He then started recognizing what he ate as a precious gift from the nature and called it “Holy Food” (Krakauer 168). Exploring relationships between human beings and other animals arouses many difficult questions: Which animals are humans allowed to eat and which ones are not? To which extent can humans govern other animals? For what purposes and on which principles can we kill other animals? Above all, what does it mean for humans to eat other animals? The answer may lie in its context. Since meat-eating has been included and remained in almost every food culture in the world throughout history and is more likely to increase in the future due to the mass production of meat, there is a very small chance for vegetarianism to become a mainstream food choice and it will remain that way.
The spectrum of logic behind cannibalism is wide in scope and varies in each tribe. In Africa there are a number of cannibalistic tribes, the two most notable being the Fang and Azande tribes. The Fang tribe occupied the Gabun district north of the Ogowh River in the French Congo. According to Mary Kingsley, “The Fang is not a cannibal for sacrificial motives” and is considered by many to be “morally superior to the Negro”. (encyclopedia.org) However, despite displaying higher moral standards, the Fang tribe has been purported to be “utterly indifferent to human life.” (encyclopedia.org) Yet, it was not indifference that served as the basis of practicing the acts of cannibalism but rather they simply found nothing wrong in doing so. In the Fang “a woman who bore ...
Would any human be ready to go through the same suffering and pain? Would any human be ready to see a sledgehammer coming to thrust their throat? Would any human be ready to die knowing they will be eaten for pleasure? I can almost certainly guarantee that the answers to these questions will always be NO. In the story of Mad Max we see that Pig Killer had died willing because he was tired of his life and wanted to have some meaning. We can draw from the story that consuming of human animals is not viewed as moral because Max did not eat the human flesh but chose to eat the horsemeat. If humans are not ready to giv...
Every society has it’s own cultural traditions and norms. Many of the traditions are passed down from generation to generation for so long that they become the norms of the culture. The Wari’ are no different than anyone else in that their traditions become cultural norms. In Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society, Beth A. Conklin travels to the Wari’ people in order to study illness and death from both before and after they had foreign contact. While there she finds herself going into depth on the lifestyle of the Wari’ people and how their norm of cannibalism came about and how it was phased out by the outside world.
As a human being, by nature are we meant to be meat-eaters? Giehl et al. argues that “It has been discovered that the diet of any animal in its natural state fits to its anatomical structure and established body functions. With attentive analysis, it is evident that humans are not naturally suited to a diet which includes flesh.” For example, when you look at meat animals such as wolfs, lions, hyenas, etc their fang teeth are built to rip flesh and devour meat. It would be vir...
A cannibal is any animal that feeds on its own species (Lady Wild Life’s website). This characteristic is rarely spoken of because it has such a negative connotation. However, an estimate of 140 species from a large time scale, displayed cannibalistic tendencies (Lady Wild Life’s website).
Cannibalism, also known as anthropophagi, is defined as the act or practice of eating members of the same species. The word anthropophagi comes from the Arawakan language name for the Carib Indians of the West Indies. The Caribs are well known for their practice of cannibalism. Among humans, this practice has been attributed to people in the past all over the world, including rituals connected to tribal warfare. There are two kinds of cannibalism -- sociological and pathological. Sociological means living and eating in a culture where cannibalism is accepted, and the pathological means practicing cannibalism within a culture where it's not accepted. Much controversy exists over the idea of sociological cannibalism. Reports of social cannibalism are mostly pointed at the Americas and Africa, since these were the primary continents subjected to European killing and conquest sprees from the Middle Ages through modern times. Despite what anyone says, there are documented examples of cannibalistic cultures and practices. It was usually a spiritual ritual. In some cases, the bodies of enemies were consumed in order to abso...
Hannibal Lecter Undoubtedly somebody with the desire to eat another human has gone through some life altering event in which they're not the same after. During World War 2 in eastern Europe, Hannibal's parents were killed by burglars going through houses to steal supplies. Him and his sister were captured, and as the winter dragged on food supplies ran out. They grabbed his sister, and took her away. She never came back, and the group used her for food. From no treatment or support
stamp out cannibalism could rebut any objections that might be raised about the brutalities of
Cannibalism has been in practice since before the Persian empire and has been enticing people of all different cultures. Cannibalism can be defined as the act of killing and eating the flesh of the victim, it is also known as anthropology. Cannibalism is perhaps the ultimate cultural taboo. There are many reasons why humans partake in this practice; for cultural purposes, for survival or even for pleasure. Throughout the modern world there have been many counts of serial killer cannibals. The name Jeffrey Dahmer has become a household name since his crimes were brought to public eyes between the years of 1978 and 1991; he was known as the Milwaukee Cannibal. During his 13 years on the loose, he murdered 17 males that we know of. He was known to rape, dismember, and practice necrophilia; however, some say that he is most well known for cannibalizing his young boys. Jeffrey Dahmer has proclaimed to have eaten every part of the human body. He stewed his victims and fed his soup to his family and his church. Another example of this is Albert Fish he was a grandfatherly man who specialized in murdering and cannibalizing children. He can be considered a real life Hannibal Lecter. It is speculated...
Is it morally permissible to eat meat? Much argument has arisen in the current society on whether it is morally permissible to eat meat. Many virtuous fruitarians and the other meat eating societies have been arguing about the ethics of eating meat (which results from killing animals). The important part of the dispute is based on the animal welfare, nutrition value from meat, convenience, and affordability of meat-based foods compared to vegetable-based foods and other factors like environmental moral code, culture, and religion. All these points are important in justifying whether humans are morally right when choosing to eat meat. This paper will argue that it is morally impermissible to eat meat by focusing on the treatment of animals, the environmental argument, animal rights, pain, morals, religion, and the law.