“Professional Anthropology”: The Ethics of Interference_A.C.Oesterle.pdf (original) (raw)

This paper examines the question whether anthropology should seek to become a profession (as well as an academic discipline), or at least whether a sub-field (namely “professional anthropology”) should be established. This lager question is examined by first looking at the historical relationship anthropology has with ethics and moral philosophy (or rather, the lack of such a relationship). The first part of the paper offers a brief overview of anthropology’s relationship with moral philosophy, and examines the history of the discipline especially in light of some of the most prominent ethical dilemmas it has encountered. The second part mainly concerns applied anthropology and its history, continuing with the examination of ethical dilemmas that arose in that subfield of the discipline until the present day. In the third part the term “discipline” in contrast to the term “profession” is examined, with due consideration paid to the challenges arising for anthropology if it were to consider becoming a licensed profession. Finally, the paper concludes with interviews from other academic fields, as well as anthropologists practicing in other countries, in order to shed more light on the question of whether licensing a sub-field such as “professional anthropology” is feasible.