Skip to content

Details

Hello Philosophy Fans!

UPDATE: we have a topic for the Meetup, Sunday, Nov. 30, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Pacific Time. We'll meet by Zoom this time; join in by phone or by computer with a microphone and (preferably) a webcam. Shortly before the meeting starts, I'll send a Zoom invitation with the link and some discussion notes.

If your plans to attend have changed, please update your RSVP.

The winner of the email vote and the topic for Sunday is:

WHO OWNS THE BONES? What do you do when you find ancient, buried bones that are claimed as sacred by some people and as objects of scientific interest by others? Are the bones rightly owned by their descendants? Should the bones remain buried, to show respect for the ancestors and descendants? Or, should the bones be studied for their scientific value?
---------------------------

READINGS for the topic – I have two short readings for you this time. Inspire and clarify your thinking on the issues by pondering the question and reading some or all of this stuff!

https://onlineethics.org/cases/graduate-research-ethics-cases-and-commentaries-volume-1-1997/bones-contention-repatriation
"With Bones in Contention: Repatriation of Human Remains" by anthropologist Brian Schrag is from the Online Ethics Center For Engineering and Science. The 5-page article presents a case study in what to do about human remains in a museum collection; it attempts a balanced view on the tug of war between the claims of scientists who want to study human remains and the claims of Native American tribes wanting to bury human remains.

https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/burying-bones-burying-dissent/
"Burying Bones, Burying Dissent" by anthropologist Elizabeth Weiss is a 5-page blog post published in Heterodox Academy. It argues against the current legal and ethical framework around the issue of what to do with human remains claimed as ancestral to current day peoples.
-------------------

Members are also interested in