Richard (Rick) Feinberg, Department of Anthropology, and Gina Zavota, Department of Philosophy, presented 鈥淏ehaviorist Ethics in Polynesia鈥� at the American Anthropological Association annual meeting in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2017.
Summary: People of Anuta, a Polynesian community in the southeastern Solomon Islands, conceive of ethics in a way that is, broadly speaking, utilitarian. Two central principles that guide Anutans鈥� moral choices are, in their words, 鈥渢he ancient custom of this island鈥� and 鈥渢o make us happy.鈥� However, two aspects of the Anutans鈥� view of happiness are unusual: the openness with which they laugh at others鈥� minor misfortunes and their practice of evaluating others鈥� happiness on the basis of outward appearance and actions. Contrary to the Euro-American tendency to downplay external expressions as mere reflections of inner mental states, we argue that Anuta ethics are best understood as 鈥渂ehaviorist鈥� and should be regarded as complete and sufficient expressions in and of themselves.
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