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Banning science because of racist origins

I was looking for 'the best atlas of human anatomy', and I found that one of the top books ever written in medicine is the 'Atlas of Topographical and Applied Human Anatomy' by Eduard Pernkopf is no longer available in the market. BANNED :-(

Yes he was wrong and unethical when he used the bodies of more than 800 victim of the nazi terror, spending two decades in dissecting corpses and letting a team of artists draw. But that finished. It is done. What is left is the science and knowledge he discovered.

Do you think that banning the knowledge in this book from the public is the right decision?

Shouldn't we take the knowledge discovered a step further and discover new facts in an ethical way?

Should other books be banned because of their history or background?

Is banning scientific books like this better than banning the books, websites, video's...etc that tell the history of the terror of the Nazis? (there are thousands online and in different languages)

Are we being ethical by banning historic achievements? ( we don't have to promote them, only present and make them available)

Isn't it more ethical to stop the wars that WE CREATE all around the world? (dead people are burnt, burried, 'thrown in the sea (political rumour) .....etc
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To all of those who participated in this debate: Thank you very much!!

Some members deleted their comments, so I did the same.
However, I have copied the full conversation to an MS Word document (42 comments)
I may also delete the whole conversation before it gets closed (unless you ask me not to do that)

Again, Thank you for your participation! I appreciate your ideas and thoughts

Critical thinker AND PROUD :P

Topics: Anatomy Atlas Nazi Pernkopf banning ethics history knowledge medicine terror
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    anthony bruni 30+

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    Nov 27 2011: I would not ban the book, but I would question why you want to use it. I am not familiar with it other than the information you have posted, but the world is not short on anatomy book. If it contained some knowledge that was not know to us I would say we should accept this knowledge with the acknowledgement of the dubious origin. That said there are plenty of book, both with drawing and cadaver picture to choose from so why choose one that is morally tainted. I am assuming you are studding medicine of some kind to be interested in books like this, at least many people who read such books are. Would you want a doctor who had such ethical flexibility that they would seek out books written by a Nazi doctor that contains fairly common knowledge at this point.

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        anthony bruni 30+

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        Nov 28 2011: Well what is so special about this book. Anatomy books are fairly common, exhibits like body worlds, tour around the world, those's that need to have access to cadavers. We also must remember that there are still people alive who had to suffer through these camps. Many med students will have personal connections to the bodies that were unethically obtained. I would hardly see this as banning science as anatomy is is taught.

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