f. But this doesnt really come to terms with the differences g. 19 century anthropologist were very sure of the moral inferiority of savages and barbarians h. Then you get an article about Franz boas Served a paradoxical role On one hand he went out of his way to knock down all of the dogma of the 19 century evolutionary anthropologists particularly against racist explanations. H relativist 2. On the other hand, he was crusading for his own moral i. It's still a struggle today in anthropology. We promote moral relativism but also moral crusades Cannibalise a. The problem of then and us comes to a head with things that we approve of. The biggest issue where this comes to a head is cannibalism b. The word cannibal comes from the french words for the caribbean because they were thought to be cannibals c. The Europeans who were critical of cannibalism were also the people who had their enemies drawn and quartered, massacred whole villages, and involved in other horrible practices d. A few years ago and anthropologist argued that there were no cannibals left in the word, other than people who were starving i. Very popular kind of denial. Not true ii. It was a way to weasel out of the moral relativism argument Ruth benedict wrote a paper of moral relativism and cannibalism Pushed the point of why is cannibalism so much more morally offensive than starvation or genocide? 3. Explaining Away the problem a. They are not merely cultural, but also political and social as well b. You get all kinds of explanations to justify itf. But this doesn’t really come to terms with the differences. g. 19th century anthropologist were very sure of the moral inferiority of savages and barbarians h. Then you get an article about Franz Boas. i. Served a paradoxical role: 1. On one hand he went out of his way to knock down all of the dogma of the 19th century evolutionary anthropologists, particularly against racist explanations. He was a moral relativist. 2. On the other hand, he was crusading for his own moral agenda i. It’s still a struggle today in anthropology. We promote moral relativism but also moral crusades. 2. Cannibalism a. The problem of then and us comes to a head with things that we approve of. The biggest issue where this comes to a head is cannibalism. b. The word cannibal comes from the French words for the Caribbean because they were thought to be cannibals. c. The Europeans who were critical of cannibalism were also the people who had their enemies drawn and quartered, massacred whole villages, and involved in other horrible practices. d. A few years ago and anthropologist argued that there were no cannibals left in the word, other than people who were starving. i. Very popular kind of denial. Not true ii. It was a way to weasel out of the moral relativism argument. e. Ruth Benedict wrote a paper of moral relativism and cannibalism i. Pushed the point of why is cannibalism so much more morally offensive than starvation or genocide? 3. Explaining Away the Problem a. They are not merely cultural, but also political and social as well. b. You get all kinds of explanations to justify it