Moral Anthropology
A Critical Reader

This Reader is the first anthology to cover the growing field of moral anthropology and will be an essential resource for students and scholars interested in exploring the important issues involved. Morality and ethics are increasingly invoked in the most diverse domains, from politics to economics, from war to sexuality, from international justice to biological research. To interpret this phenomenon from a critical standpoint, anthropology offers unique perspectives. This volume includes classical as well as recent material and sheds light on continuing debates about relativism and universalism, values and emotions, moral duty and ethical freedom, human rights and humanitarianism, the responsibility of the researcher and the regulation of research. The carefully chosen texts are contextualised with lucid editorial material, including a substantial introduction.

Introduction: The Moral Question in Anthropology Part One: Foundations Legacies of Moral Philosophies. Premises of a Science of Morality Part Two: Positions The Location of the Moral. Ethical Relativism in Question Part Three: Descriptions Local Ethics. Moral Economies Part Four: Confrontations Borderline Situations. Practical Tensions Part Five: Prescriptions Moralizing the World? Codifying the Discipline? Conclusion: Towards an Hauntology of the Moral Question.

Didier Fassin is the James D. Wolfensohn Professor of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, and Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris.

Samuel Lézé is an Assistant Professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon.