Marshall Sahlins : The Destruction of Conscience in Vietnam and in the National Academy of Sciences

"The Destruction of Conscience in the National Academy of Sciences" is a famous critique written by anthropologist Marshall Sahlins regarding the moral and ethical compromises within elite scientific institutions. Sahlins used this phrase to describe how institutional complicity in military research and the honoring of controversial figures erode the ethical soul of science. Pa ProQuest +1 Background and Resignation • Marshall Sahlins: The esteemed University of Chicago anthropologist resigned from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) Background and Resignation • Marshall Sahlins: The esteemed University of Chicago anthropologist resigned from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to protest institutional direction. o • Napoleon Chagnon: Sahlins specifically objected to the election of anthropologist Napoleon Chagnon into the NAS, arguing Chagnon's field methods caused severe harm to indigenous Amazonian communities. • Militarization of Science: Sahlins connected the internal ethical failure of the Academy to its willingness to embrace and accommodate military research projects, echoing his earlier writings on conscience and state violence. Broader Ethical Concerns in Science • Complicity and Conformity: The critique highlights how prestige and professional advancement can override ethical dissent, forcing principled members to choose public Broader Ethical Concerns in Science • Complicity and Conformity: The critique highlights how prestige and professional advancement can override ethical dissent, forcing principled members to choose public dissociation or resignation. Pa ProQuest • Public Trust: Critics argue that when elite academies prioritize utilitarian or state-sponsored goals over fundamental human compassion, they risk forfeiting moral authority and public trust. @ Physics World +1 <



https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307676413_An_interview_with_Marshall_Sahlins_The_destruction_of_conscience_in_the_National_Academy_of_Sciences



The Destruction of Conscience in Viet Nam" is a seminal anti-war essay by cultural anthropologist Marshall Sahlins, published in the January-February 1966 issue of Dissent magazine. D Dissent Magazine +1 The piece was born out of Sahlins' firsthand, week-long trip to Vietnam in August 1965, where he toured military facilities and used his ethnographic training to critique the ground realities of the conflict. ® New Left Review +2 Core Arguments of the Essay • The Eradication of Moral Responsibility: Sahlins argued that for the United States to continue waging the Vietnam War, it had to systematically destroy its own domestic and institutional conscience. Facing the human devastation caused by American actions was too psychologically and morally heavy for the nation to bear otherwise. R° ResearchGate +1


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