| Term | Definition |
| anthropology | The study of the human race, especially the arts, customs, and beliefs of different societies of the past and present |
| anthropologist | a social scientist who specializes in anthropology |
| mores | the customs and behaviours that are considered typical of a particular social group or community |
| theory | a formal set of ideas that is intended to explain why something happens or exists |
| sociopath | a person with a mental illness that behaves in an aggressive or dangerous way toward other people |
| utilitarianism | the idea that the goal of society should be the greatest happiness for the greatest number of its citizens |
| social scientists & anthropologists | they describe and interpret a society's mores and are careful to keep the account morally neutral |
| theology | a particular system or school of religious beliefs and teachings |
| theologian | studies the religious beliefs and will call on us to act in a particular way and to avoid certain sinful practices |
| moral philosopher | they try to show why certain traits are worthy and why certain traits are not, they try to formulate gerneral principles of behaviour thatdefine our duties by distinguishing right actions from wrong actions |
| virtue based theory | emphsizes not on what to do, but on what to be |
| action based theory | emphasizes moral duties and acitons |
| relativism | a doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exists in relation to culture, society, and historical context, and are not absolute....there are no moral principles that are binding for all societies and that instead each society has a set of morals or their own members |
| pervasive | present everywhere, existing in all parts of a thing, inevitable, inescapable |
| reasoned | thought-out, methodical, logical, well- organized |
| exhort | to urge, advise, or caution earnestly, encourage strongly, presuade |
| construe | to analyze, explain, interpret, or understand. |
| virtue | the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong |
| empirical | derived from experiment and observation rather than theory |
| akin | Of similar nature or qualities. |
| decree | authoritative order; edict; judgment of a court of law; V: order or judge by decree |
| sentiment | a personal belief or judgment that is not founded on proof or certainty, point of view based on emotion |
| benevolence | an act intending or showing kindness and good will |
| injustice | unfairness |
| finite | bounded or limited in magnitude or spatial or temporal extent |
| nihilism | total rejection of established laws and institutions, |
| doctrine | a set of beliefs held and taught by a specific group |
| amoral | don't follow moral rules, no concern for right and wrong |
| mettle | courage, bravery |
| precede | go ahead, before |
| vice | wicked or immoral behavior |
| arraign | ~ sb (law ) bring a criminal charge against sb; bring sb to court for trial, to accuse |
| sumptuous | splendid, lavish, costly |
| sluice | artificial channel for directing or controlling the flow of water (with a gate to regulate the flow) |
| unadulterated | pure, undiluted, not mixed |
| monetary | pertaining to money |
| pertain | have to do with or be relevant to |
| integral | complete; necessary for completeness, necessary, essential |
| earnest | a serious and intent mental state, sincere |
| canvass | consider in detail and subject to an analysis in order to discover essential features or meaning, plan |
| catharsis | purging or cleansing of any passage of the body; purging and weakening of strong emotions as a result of experiencing a dramatic work of art |
| defer | To delay or put off to some other time. |
| breech | a baby that is turned upside down in the birth canal, since the head is the largest part it may become trapped |
| florid | red, flushed, overelaborate |
| sanction | giving permission, authorize, approve |
| translucent | partly transparent, able to see through partly, but not all the way |
| cataclysmic | extremely sudden, violent, or destructive |
| recidivism | the chronic tendency toward repetition of criminal or antisocial behavior patterns |
| cavernous | huge, spacious |
| cavern | a large cave |
| persona | the aspect of ones character that is present to others, a person's perceived or evident personality |
| cultivate | improve, refine (At the library, she cultivated her interest in spy novels.) |