Ethics of posthumous scholarly authorship in the sciences
David Nunan and Jeff Aronson suggest that formal criteria are needed to determine eligibility for posthumous authorship and for dealing with associated ethical problems Posthumous authorship poses problems in multiple ways in different disciplines. Max Brod, Franz Kafka’s literary executor, published The Trial , The Castle, and Amerika after Kafka’s death, despite Kafka’s instructions to burn his unpublished works. These works have enriched the literary corpus and have influenced many writers since, but the ethical problem is of concern. Other notable literary cases include the posthumous publication of letters of Jane Austen, causing distress to members of her family, and Ted Hughes’s publication of Sylvia Plath’s poems in a disputed edition amid controversy about her suicide. In contrast, posthumous publication of J R R Tolkien’s papers by his son Christopher seems to have raised no difficulties. However, despite interest in posthumous literary publication, little has been written ab
