An 'ethical hassle' or an attempt at a frank criticism of science: the historical development of anthropology

Samenvatting

This is the last part of a paper entitled, "concerning the content and the political role of the social sciences in developing countries." it centers around the following question: is it not true that a discussion about ethics and attempts to formulate a professional code obscure a far more fundamental question, namely the justification of the practice of social science? Regarding an "ethical hassle," reference is made to the 1971 report, "to evaluate the controversy concerning anthropological activities in Thailand," about which great unrest had developed in the us. The question of ethics is not seen as an isolated problem, but as pointing directly to the essence of science itself and its essential components: the choice of the object, method of research, and method of application. By putting forward empirical material (in the original article) it is illustrated to what misery science can contribute when questions like "for whom" and "whose" are neglected as concrete and non narrow-scientific problems. J. Shiffer