Respecting corpses: the ethics of grave re-use

Abstract

The paper argues that grave reuse cannot be ethically evaluated simply by adverting to cognate issues, such as archaeological and medical ethics, since grave reuse comprises a very specific type of disturbance. Whilst there is no general ethical prohibition against disturbing the dead, a more detailed analysis is required in the case of English Victorian ‘perpetuity graves’. It is argued that, even granted that posthumous harms exist, on a proper understanding of what motivated purchase of perpetuity graves, their reuse does not constitute a prohibitive posthumous harm. Objections to grave reuse on the grounds of the well-being of the living are then considered. Repugnance towards grave reuse is grounded in solicitous attitudes towards the dead and ontological anxiety about the fate of our own and our loved ones’ bodies. Nonetheless, repugnance should not be a weighty consideration in the policy debate. Finally, major pragmatic considerations in favour of grave reuse are reiterated. In sum, arguments against grave reuse are weak, and pragmatic arguments for grave reuse are strong; so, reusing graves is ethically permissible.