An Anthropology of Ethics (New Departures in Anthropology) - Softcover

Faubion, James D.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 052118195X ISBN 13: 9780521181952

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2011

Synopsis

Through an ambitious and critical revision of Michel Foucault's investigation of ethics, James Faubion develops an original program of empirical inquiry into the ethical domain. From an anthropological perspective, Faubion argues that Foucault's specification of the analytical parameters of this domain is the most productive point of departure in conceptualizing its distinctive features. He further argues that Foucault's framework is in need of substantial revision to be of genuinely anthropological scope. In making this revision, Faubion illustrates his program with two extended case studies: one of a Portuguese marquis and the other of a dual subject made up of the author and a millenarian prophetess. The result is a conceptual apparatus that is able to accommodate ethical pluralism and yield an account of the limits of ethical variation, providing a novel resolution of the problem of relativism that has haunted anthropological inquiry into ethics since its inception.

About this title

Review

'This erudite, enlightening, and engaging book will make a significant contribution to what Faubion calls an anthropology of ethics as well as anthropology in general.' Anthropos

Book Description

Through a critical revision of Foucault's investigation of ethics, Faubion develops an original program of empirical inquiry into the ethical domain. The result is a conceptual apparatus with genuinely anthropological scope, accommodating ethical pluralism and the limits of ethical variation, and providing a novel resolution of the problem of relativism.

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 052118195X
• ISBN 13: 9780521181952
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 318