Prompted by today's rather high profile funeral the NY Times ethics blog, Moral of the Story, asks to what degree we should defer to the wishes of the deceased when disposing of their mortal remains. The whole post is very interesting and worth a read but their conclusion, in short, is this:

"We should consider but not be bound by the desires of the dead. They are beyond caring what befalls them. Our greater duty is to the living for whom these remains have profound meaning. It is they who must grapple with the ineffable finality of separation, and this physical stuff, this residue of life, can help.

If the demands of the dead conflict with offering solace to those who loved them, we should honor the latter. It is not just life that is for the living; death is for the living."

I'm not sure it's that simple.

Arguably those most likely to take solace from the ritual of burial would be quite religious and probably take issue with the idea that the dead are 'beyond caring what befalls them'. In fact it's probably important for many people going through the mourning process to arrive at that awareness at their own pace, if they even arrive there at all. Even to the extent that it might hinder working through their personal grief I'd imagine most people would want some sort of deference for the wishes of the deceased.