The Ethics of Body Disposal

As part of the celebrations for its 20th anniversary, IDEA The Ethics Centre at the University of Leeds is pleased to announce the online workshop event: The Ethics of Body Disposal.

Deciding what should be done with our own bodies or those of a loved one after death can be difficult decisions with sometimes significant ethical implications. Deciding what to do, what you would like to be done, and what others should be permitted to do, raises a number of ethical questions – at this workshop, we would like to offer a space to explore and discuss some of these.

Such questions might include:
What responsibilities do we have to the dead and to the living in making body disposal decisions? How might any such moral obligations differ when we are making decisions for ourselves or others? Would ignoring the wishes of the deceased be morally wrong? Should their wishes be honoured even if it might offend others in society? Should laws restrict what we can and cannot have done with our own bodies after death and if so, how? Should body disposal decisions be made with the interests of others still living, even those unknown to the deceased, in mind? In disagreements over arrangement for disposal of a loved one’s body, what principles should guide how to move forwards?
This list is not exhaustive but is meant to be indicative of some of the issues and questions that can be raised by this topic.  

This will be a free event. 
If you have a paper or idea that you feel would fit this theme and would like to present at this online workshop, please submit the title and an abstract via this link: Form. IDEA is committed to interdisciplinary applied ethics and so academics and professionals from other disciplines and related industries are encouraged to submit relevant abstracts for this event.
The deadline for abstracts is 5pm Friday 25th April 2025.

You can register to attend this workshop through the same link; Form here

If you have any questions, you can reach the event organiser Dr Sarah Carter-Walshaw at this address: s.carter-walshaw@leeds.ac.uk