Because it's nice to live in a society where the living isn't tramatised by the knowledge of what happens to your legacy after you die. For example, it could b

Because it's nice to live in a society where the living isn't tramatised by the knowledge of what happens to your legacy after you die. For example, it could be argued that the best way to dispose of corpses is composting and not cemeteries or cremation. With that in mind, should the state not impose that everyone is composted? Even though I personally wouldn't care if that's the ultimate fate of my body, lots of people DO care about that. There would be a harm done to society if something like this was forced on the remains of their loved ones. So the round about answer is, because it's a nice thing to do that makes people feel good and that has value. The fact that we are having this discussion sort of underlines the issue with going against the wishes of the dead. It makes people uncomfortable and upset. That being said, it probably wouldn't feel nearly as ghoulish if Garcia was dead for more than a couple of years. The reason it feels uncomfortable is her family is going against her wishes to publish his book ostensibly for the money. That feels a little like grave robbing. (Which, again, could be viewed in the same light. Why does grave robbing matter?)