Lately I've been exploring the lore regarding necromancy and have discovered a number of incredible lore-fitting mods which enhance you ability to use it in-game (namely: The Vile Art of Necromancy, Corpse Preparation, and Undeath), and as I roleplay various characters who use it, I've been thinking a lot about the moral implications of it. On one hand, it can be used in a benign fashion, and, if it came into popular acceptance, even for good purposes which benefit society. On the other hand, there is a definite and positive correlation between necromancy and wrongdoing (i. e., killing specifically for the purpose of using their corpse for necromancy, etc.). What are your thoughts on this?
I just think there's something wrong with taking one's body and indoctrinating it. Particularly when on considers the religious/spiritual implications. What happens to the soul of the deceased? Are they disturbed in the afterlife? I think necromancy is disdained because it is fundamentally disturbing, whether or not it is wrong.
This gives me tons of ideas for roleplay: a truly good necromancer who uses the art for good purposes and holds that it is simply a different side of restoration, a bad necromancer that holds that he is simply using a different side of restoration but consistently uses it to heinous ends, etc.
I've thought about the soul aspect of this a lot. UESP defines necromancy as "the manipulation of the souls or corpses of the undead." Because of the "soul" side of this definition, this makes it seem similar to storing souls in soul gems and using them to enchant items. If they are related, this has a couple of interesting implications. A: Does this mean that enchanting is a form of necromancy? and B: since this means that the souls go to the soul cairn, as with soul gems, what are the moral implications of that (taking into account that a "good" user of might only use it on people who deserve it)?
Sure, because of cultural beliefs that dead bodies are to be respected and treated well.
What if I come from a culture that considers the body to be merely a shell, and once someone has died "they" no longer inhabit the body? From my perspective, using the body to, I don't know, haul heavy stuff is no more disgusting that donating that person's coat to charity. They're not using it anymore; why not put it to good use?
One thing to remember with souls gems is that, while we are so used to using the Black Star, basically everyone else in skyrim, other than necromancers, uses normal soul gems, which are filled with the souls of animals. So the whole deal with the Soul Cairn and trapped souls only really applies to the victims of malicious necromancers.
That's another interesting point. The immense respect for the dead is purely a cultural phenomenon. It could also be possible for a culture to arise that considers a necromantic use of dead bodies an honor. If you don't adhere adhere to the ARKAYic (see what I did there?) cultural practices, then the only remaining issues are the general "ickiness" of it and the correlation (but not necessarily causation) between necromancy and murder. I think if it were more widely accepted, the second issue would stop being an issue because necromancers could perform the art on naturally deceased corpses.
Hah I loved that book. I was also a rather big fan of Traven himself, despite his rather closed-minded views on Necromancy. Whenever I play the Oblivion mages guild questline, I always like to roleplay that my character grows rather fond of him and is an alcoholic for a while after Traven sacrifices himself.
In terms of TES necromancy, it really is just another part of magic. In one of those lore books, it says that the magic schools are just artificial constructs, designed to simplify magical study and teaching. Since the founder of the Mages Guild was sort of in a Dumbledore vs. Voldemort feud with Mannimarco, it's no wonder it became demonized among the civilized, but I'm sure it accomplished quite a lot, progressing medicine and Restoration studies.
I can't remember what the actual implications of "raising" a corpse actually does in TES lore, though. Is it simply imbuing a corpse with your own will, where you move it as easily as you move your own body? Is it using simple spirits to "drive" the empty body like a car? Are you making a slave out of the deceased's eternal soul? Previously, we seem to be talking about probing dead people (no necrophile), but the proper raising is the moral issue here.