To Accept or Not to Accept
From The Embassy of Good Science
ResourcesCases
To Accept or Not to Accept
What is this about?
The fictional case describes a scenario whereby a collection of pottery is offered for donation to a museum on the condition that the total collection would be accepted and retained. The collection, though, contains items that ‘might’ be subject to repatriation.
Why is this important?
Although a fictional scenario, the case shows that there are not always straightforward answers in dealing with issues that may challenge the values, rights and rules of different cultural or ethnic groups.
For whom is this important?
What are the best practices?
As Anne Pybern (a member of the Committee on Ethics) notes, such scenario requires carefully considered and flexible responses so that we do not end up serving the various existing rules instead of using these rules to service the ethical needs of humanity accordingly.
