Editing Anthropology (section)

=== Cultural relativism ===
As part of their quest for [[scientific objectivity]], present-day anthropologists typically urge [[cultural relativism]], which has an influence on all the sub-fields of anthropology.<ref name="Ingold1994p331"/> This is the notion that cultures should not be judged by another's values or viewpoints, but be examined dispassionately on their own terms. There should be no notions, in good anthropology, of one culture being better or worse than another culture.<ref>{{cite book|last=Levi-Strauss|first=Claude|year=1962|title=The Savage Mind}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Womack|first=Mari|year=2001|title=Being Human}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=October 2012}}

Ethical commitments in anthropology include noticing and documenting [[genocide]], [[infanticide]], [[racism]], [[sexism]], [[mutilation]] (including [[circumcision]] and [[subincision]]), and [[torture]]. Topics like racism, slavery, and human sacrifice attract anthropological attention and theories ranging from nutritional deficiencies,<ref>Harris, Marvin. ''Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches''.</ref> to genes,<ref>{{cite web |url-status=live |url=http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=209831&sectioncode=26 |title=Is there a gene for racism? |website=Times Higher Education |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522193840/http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=209831&sectioncode=26 |archive-date=22 May 2011 |date=August 3, 2007 |access-date=2 November 2016}}</ref> to [[acculturation]], to [[colonialism]], have been proposed to explain their origins and continued recurrences.

To illustrate the depth of an anthropological approach, one can take just one of these topics, such as racism, and find thousands of anthropological references, stretching across all the major and minor sub-fields.<ref>{{cite web|title=Statement on "Race"|url=http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm|publisher=American Anthropological Association|date=May 17, 1998|access-date=17 April 2007|archive-date=27 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130627184228/http://www.aaanet.org/stmts/racepp.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1126/science.282.5389.654 |pmid=9841421 |title=Cultural Anthropology: DNA Studies Challenge the Meaning of Race |journal=Science |volume=282 |issue=5389 |pages=654–655 |year=1998 |last1=Marshall |first1=E. |bibcode=1998Sci...282..654M |s2cid=22257033 }}</ref><ref>Goodman, Allan (1995). "The Problematics of "Race" in Contemporary Biological Anthropology." In ''Biological Anthropology: The State of the Science''. International Institute for Human Evolutionary Research. {{ISBN|0-9644248-0-0}}.</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330360604|title=Melanin, afrocentricity, and pseudoscience|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=36|pages=33–58|year=1993|last1=De Montellano|first1=Bernard R. Ortiz|url=https://www.academia.edu/199944|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=5 March 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305074808/https://www.academia.edu/199944/Melanin_Afrocentricity_and_Pseudoscience|url-status=live}}</ref>