EDITORIAL – “Bodies” exhibit draws ethical uncertainties

The 15 new bodies coming to Pittsburgh this fall as part of “Bodies: The Exhibition” aren’t… The 15 new bodies coming to Pittsburgh this fall as part of “Bodies: The Exhibition” aren’t traveling light. That is, the well-publicized exhibit, which opens Oct. 8 at the Carnegie Science Center, has generated its fair share of controversy.

Chief among the criticisms is that, unlike other cadaver tours – like “Body Worlds,” which displays letters of consent next to each preserved body – none of the original inhabitants of the 15 full body corpses, preserved by a technique called “plastination,” in “Bodies” gave their consent.

The bodies, which come from China – a country with a history of human rights abuse, including harvesting organs from executed prisoners – also ignite an age-old debate over whether it is appropriate to utilize dead bodies for academic or financial gain.

Premier Exhibitions of Atlanta, the company that oversees the exhibit, claims that the bodies were unidentified or unclaimed, and that every attempt was made to locate relatives before the bodies were turned over to police, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Carnegie Science Center has also defended its actions, highlighting the educational value of the exhibit and reassuring skeptics that the museum had done its homework before bringing the exhibit into town, a claim we hope is true.

The ethical debate over whether it is appropriate to dissect – or in this case, display – a dead human body for academic gain has been at the fulcrum of Western philosophy for thousands of years, so it is no surprise that exhibits like “Bodies” have garnered controversy.

Yet, the three cadaver tours that have been circling the United States have achieved immense popularity. Maybe it’s because, along with an ethical uncertainty, most people also harbor a straight-out morbid curiosity – the irony behind this being of course, that the reason we want to see these bodies is that at some point, they were living. But we can’t help it. It’s kind of cool.

And educational, too. Along with the 15 corpses – many of which are assembled in different positions, such as running or kicking a soccer ball – the exhibition also displays more than 200 preserved organs. The exhibit is also designed to teach visitors about the dangers of certain health risks, including smoking – by showing the effect of the habit on the lungs.

Ultimately, though, it’s hard to look past the fact that these bodies were used without consent, a human-rights violation that no living person would wish for. We trust that in the future, Premier and organizations like it will take the necessary precautions to ensure that cadavers are retrieved ethically.

Because, while we value science and education, nothing supercedes basic human rights.