Thou Shall Not See: Ethics and Prohibiting Images

Much as certain words are prohibited because they are deemed dangerous or degrading, some images are also considered too threatening to produce, distribute, or view. For instance:

• Some think the Pernkopf Atlas, a book of anatomy drawn from Nazi victims, should continue to be used it Schools of Medicine, while others consider it verboten.
• Religions like Islam and Jainism, and indigenous communities like those at Etowah, consider images powerful, yet some images are deemed forbidden. Why?
• What is a museum’s responsibility to the truth? Should museums refrain from putting out objects that may be objectionable or sensitive, or should they in the interest of the truth be more inclined to do so?
• Cartographers often deliberately hide what’s in plain sight. Who decides what to obscure?

What is the nature of such illicit images? What fears or concerns justify forbidding them? Though beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, some images flirt with truth and justice, while deepfakes misconstrue and lead astray. Join us for a heartfelt conversation about controlling—even banning—what we might see.

Jonathan Crane, PhD, and director of the Ethics Across Traditions program will guide the conversation with special guests:

Laura Asherman, MFA, Dir, Ethics & the Arts Program - Documentaran

Ellen Gough, PhD, Assoc Prof, Dept of Religion - Jainism Studies

Jim Hoesterey, PhD, Chair, Dept of Religion - Islamic Studies

Henry Kim, MPhil, Dir, M. C. Carlos Museum - Museum Studies

Adam King, PhD, Dir, SC Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology - Indigenous Southeastern US Culture

Lance Waller, PhD, Chair, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, RSPH - Cartography

Ali Zarrabi, MD, Assistant Prof, Emory School of Medicine - Psychiatry