From Posthumous Harm to Posthumous Wrongs

Abstract

This chapter considers and responds to some additional objections that can be raised against the book’s thesis. These include objections that claim that the Posthumous Harm Thesis has unacceptable implications; objections that even if posthumous harm is possible it is not a kind of harm that makes an act even prima facie wrong, or at least not in a non-trivial way; and objections that claim that it is morally irrelevant or insignificant. The chapter then concludes by discussing some of the ethical implications of the book’s thesis for such issues as posthumous organ and gamete removal, posthumous publication of private documents, posthumous damage to graves and corpses, and posthumous punishment and restitution.