Paper short abstract:

Philosophy has had remarkably little to say about death, while ethicists have remained oddly muted on the subject of the dead and their treatment within Archaeology - thus, a study of our "obligations" to the dead, through comparison of Kantianism and Utilitarianism, are the ambitions of this paper.

Paper long abstract:

Considerable though the cultural, social and palaeopathological legacy of Forensic Archaeology may be, the irony of how minimal ethical considerations regarding human remains excavation and exhumation have been is especially pronounced given the emotivism of a number of aspects of the discipline. The purpose of this paper, then, is two-fold - acknowledging the paucity of scholarship unifying these areas, to (a) illuminate the rich inter-disciplinary potential of Moral Philosophy and Forensic Archaeology, and (b) proffer a viable theoretical model for undertaking such applied work through comparison of Kantian and Utilitarian Ethics. More specifically, and with that latter aim in mind, my research promotes a cultural-metaphysical rather than empirical-hedonistic personhood that takes into account the "needs, views and desires" of the dead, viewing them as formerly sensate agents rather than mere relics to be analysed.

Of the two schools of moral thought cited, I defend Kant's Doctrine of Ends, arguing that treatment of the dead as Ends rather than purely as an investigative Means more ably caters for and tempers social, religious and epistemic controversies bound up in human remains excavation. By contrast, I contend that Utilitarianism can scarcely ensure the happiness of the greatest number if its implied sympathy for perception and experience satisfies only living beneficiaries.

Philosophy has had remarkably little to say about death, while ethicists have remained oddly muted on the subject of the dead and their treatment within Archaeology - thus, a study of our "obligations" to the dead, through comparison of Kantianism and Utilitarianism, are the dual ambitions of this paper.