A collection of papers from AnthroEthics 2021 consider ethical issues related to biological anthropology. It combines views from people working in various countries and continents, allowing for a worldview on ethical discussions within biological anthropology.

First published in 1928, "Coming of Age in Samoa" is Margaret Mead's classic sociological examination of adolescence during the first part of the 20th century in American Samoa. Sent by the Social Science Research Council to study the youths of a so-called "primitive" culture, Margaret Mead would spend nine months attempting to ascertain if the problems of adolescences in western society were merely a function of youth or a result of cultural and social differences. "Coming of Age in Samoa" is her report of those findings, in which the author details various aspects of Samoan life including, education, social and household structure, and sexuality. The book drew great public interest when it was first published and also criticism from those who did not like the perceived message that the carefree sexuality of Samoan girls might be the reason for their lack of neuroses. "Coming of Age in Samoa" has also been criticized for the veracity of Mead's account, though current public opinion seems to fall on the side of her work being largely a factual one, if not one of great anthropological rigor. At the very least "Coming of Age in Samoa" remains an interesting historical account of tribal Samoan life during the first part of the 20th century. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper.

This book is the first of its kind, combining international perspectives on the current ethical considerations and challenges facing bioarchaeologists in the recovery, analysis, curation, and display of human remains. It explores how museum curators, commercial practitioners, forensic anthropologists, and bioarchaeologists deal with ethical issues pertaining to human remains in traditional and digital settings around the world. The book not only raises key ethical questions concerning the study, display, and curation of skeletal remains that bioarchaeologists must face and overcome in different countries, but also explores how this global community can work together to increase awareness of similar and, indeed, disparate ethical considerations around the world and how they can be addressed in working practices. The key aspects addressed include ethics in bioarchaeology and forensic anthropology, the excavation, curation, and display of human remains, repatriation, and new imaging techniques. As such, the book offers an ideal guide for students and practitioners in the fields of bioarchaeology, osteoarchaeology, forensic anthropology, medical anthropology, archaeology, anatomy, museum and archive studies, and philosophy, detailing how some ethical dilemmas have been addressed and which future dilemmas need to be considered.

An Indispensable Resource on Advanced Methods of Analysis of Human Skeletal and Dental Remains in Archaeological and Forensic Contexts Now in its third edition, Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton has become a key reference for bioarchaeologists, human osteologists, and paleopathologists throughout the world. It builds upon basic skills to provide the foundation for advanced scientific analyses of human skeletal remains in cultural, archaeological, and theoretical contexts. This new edition features updated coverage of topics including histomorphometry, dental morphology, stable isotope methods, and ancient DNA, as well as a number of new chapters on paleopathology. It also covers bioarchaeological ethics, taphonomy and the nature of archaeological assemblages, biomechanical analyses of archaeological human skeletons, and more. Fully updated and revised with new material written by leading researchers in the field Includes many case studies to demonstrate application of methods of analysis Offers valuable information on contexts, methods, applications, promises, and pitfalls Covering the latest advanced methods and techniques for analyzing skeletal and dental remains from archaeological discoveries, Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton is a trusted text for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals in human osteology, bioarchaeology, and paleopathology.

The book aims to revitalise the interdisciplinary debate about evolutionary ethics and substantiate the idea that evolution science can provide a rational and robust framework for understanding morality. It also traces pathways for knowledge-based choices to be made about directions for future long-term biological evolution and cultural development in view of adaptation to the expected, probable and possible future and the ecological sustainability of our planetary environment The authors discuss ethical challenges associated with the major biosocial sources of human variation: individual variation, inter-personal variation, inter-group variation, and inter-generational variation. This book approaches the long-term challenges of the human species in a holistic way. Researchers will find an extensive discussion of the key theoretical scientific aspects of the relationship between evolution and morality. Policy makers will find information that can help them better understand from where we are coming and inspire them to make choices and take actions in a longer-term perspective. The general public will find food for thoughts.

Highlighting the most important topics, issues, questions and debates, these two volumes offer full coverage of major subthemes and subfields within the discipline of anthropology.

With great eloquence, Derek Freeman takes the reader on an intellectual journey through the complexities of philosophical anthropology. Even while the controversial Nature–Nurture debate raged, Freeman contended that the crucial fact that humans had the capacity to make choices was ‘both intrinsic to our biology and basic to the very formation of cultures’. Thus the scene was set for his widely publicised criticism of Margaret Mead’s book Coming of Age in Samoa. Publishing her research in 1926, Mead concluded that all human behaviour was the result of social conditioning. Freeman refuted this assumption in 1983, urging closer interactions between the biological sciences and cultural studies to bridge the ever-widening chasm threatening all studies of humankind. Dilthey’s Dream is an engagingly powerful set of essays depicting the depth of one man’s thinking on issues, which consumed a lifetime.

This volume focuses on the ethical and philosophical issues that arise in an aging society, and the implications of these issues for healthcare and social policy. After a brief overview of biomedicine's changing approach of ageing and longevity and of the new expectations that these changes generate, various ethical, social, and policy issues that surround aging and longevity are discussed. First, the images and social meanings of aging and old age in our society are explored, including their normative dimensions and implications for policy. Next, ethical issues in the care for frail elderly are discussed, as well as notion of good care and end-of-life decisions. Finally, the ethical and social implications of emerging possibilities for anti-aging and lifespan extension are considered. The book concludes with an overview of the relevance of the issues discussed for policy making on professional, national and international levels.​

2020 Anisfield-Wolf Book Award Winner Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award From an award-winning historian comes a dazzling history of the birth of cultural anthropology and the adventurous scientists who pioneered it—a sweeping chronicle of discovery and the fascinating origin story of our multicultural world. A century ago, everyone knew that people were fated by their race, sex, and nationality to be more or less intelligent, nurturing, or warlike. But Columbia University professor Franz Boas looked at the data and decided everyone was wrong. Racial categories, he insisted, were biological fictions. Cultures did not come in neat packages labeled "primitive" or "advanced." What counted as a family, a good meal, or even common sense was a product of history and circumstance, not of nature. In Gods of the Upper Air, a masterful narrative history of radical ideas and passionate lives, Charles King shows how these intuitions led to a fundamental reimagining of human diversity. Boas's students were some of the century's most colorful figures and unsung visionaries: Margaret Mead, the outspoken field researcher whose Coming of Age in Samoa is among the most widely read works of social science of all time; Ruth Benedict, the great love of Mead's life, whose research shaped post-Second World War Japan; Ella Deloria, the Dakota Sioux activist who preserved the traditions of Native Americans on the Great Plains; and Zora Neale Hurston, whose studies under Boas fed directly into her now classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Together, they mapped civilizations from the American South to the South Pacific and from Caribbean islands to Manhattan's city streets, and unearthed an essential fact buried by centuries of prejudice: that humanity is an undivided whole. Their revolutionary findings would go on to inspire the fluid conceptions of identity we know today. Rich in drama, conflict, friendship, and love, Gods of the Upper Air is a brilliant and groundbreaking history of American progress and the opening of the modern mind.