Thoughts from
San Diego on Law, Politics, and Culture

 
Am I sick?
By Tom Smith

Fully expecting yet another celebration of the culture of death, I was surprised to find the "plastinated" corpses of the recent controversial exhibit rather beautiful. Not as beautiful as the real human body of course, but still an apparently sincere attempt to expose people to the wonders that lay beneath the surface. Steve Bainbridge disagrees. Curmudgeonly Clerk apparently approves of Steve's disapproval. Maybe I would feel differently if I went to the exhibit and sensed it was really prurient or morbid, but from the photos, they don't look that way to me.

But otherwise I agree with Clerk that repugnance is a useful guide to the immoral. That, and anything accepted in Sweden. (Thanks to Clerk for the link, I think). But then there's this well-known outburst by distinguished philosopher Peter Singer, who joins the long list of people I would not let take care of my beloved dogs, and the much shorter list of people to whom I would not entrust my intense-weariness-inducing, emotionally needy, diabetic guinea pig. NRO's comment on this old controversy here.
posted by thomas at 2/04/2004 09:32:00 AM