What is it about?
This article examines European and Euro-American understandings of Indigenous ethical systems in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It explores the approaches of non-Native ethicists and anthropologists who study Native American ethical systems and compare them negatively to Euro-American ethical systems.
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Why is it important?
This work is helpful for our understanding of diverse ethical forms from cultures around the world. Historically, Euro-American ethical systems were assumed to be superior to other forms. Some non-Natives even questioned whether Native Americans and other Indigenous communities even *had* ethical systems. They do - but these systems weren't always recognized by experts in the disciplines of anthropology and comparative ethics. Understanding historical biases enables us to address gaps in our knowledge about religious and ethical systems today.
Perspectives
While I am not an ethicist, I became interested in the history of ethics while engaged in my research on the history of the study of Native North American religions. The question of Indigenous ethics came up in the writings of prominent scholars. So, I dove into the topic in order to see what I could find.
Sarah Dees
Iowa State University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Religion, Race, and the Limit of Ethics: Historical Considerations, Journal of Religious Ethics, August 2024, Wiley,
DOI: 10.1111/jore.12484.
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