STRIVING TOWARDS ETHICAL HOLISM: INTEGRATING AND PRIORITIZING PRIMATE CONSERVATION WITHIN THE FIELD OF BIOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

Abstract

This thesis explores the need for the prioritization and implementation of primate conservation within the field of biological anthropology. Historically, primate conservation has essentially been disregarded within primatological research. Conservation has simply always been left to the conservationists and thus it has not been a priority for anthropological primatologists. Despite this apparent oversight, primate conservation is anthropology, and it is best served within an anthropological primatological framework. This thesis analyzes the history of the integration of primatology within an anthropological framework to best assess how the field has been lacking in its inclusion and positioning of primate conservation. I discuss the historical context, emphasizing the holes within the methodology and propose my own recommendations on how we as an anthropological primatological community can strive towards ethical holism through the prioritization and integration of primate conservation in the field.