Teaching Anthropological Ethics: Developing Skills in Ethical Decision-Making and the Nature of Moral Education

How can the gap between ethical prescriptions and behavior be closed? The various ethical codes have not been sufficiently internalized so that they have become part of the anthropologist's decision-making apparatus. This can be corrected by developing a greater knowledge of the ethical codes; by developing a greater sensitivity to moral concerns; and by developing skills in ethical decision-making. This latter is complicated by the abstract nature of codes; the multiple roles of the anthropologist; and the nature of anthropological inquiry that takes place at an interface of ethical systems. The case-discussion method is described as one approach to training for ethical decision-making. But the grafting of such a course onto a curriculum is only a partial solution. Departmental structure and the processes of anthropological education must also be such that they do not contribute towards an erosion of moral controls. For the ultimate source of moral behavior is the individual. This is expressed in the development of the habit of the truth and trust. For a science whose primary instrument is the individual, these characteristics must be finely tuned. Observational precision is eroded by any deceitful or ungenuine interactions. And those whose everyday relations are so contaminated are also likely to become dishonest in their research and publishing.