Edvard Westermarck

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Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 – 3 September 1939) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. He is best known for his work in the field of the sociology of marriage and family life, particularly regarding the taboo against incest and the development of moral ideas. Westermarck held positions as a professor at the University of Helsinki and the London School of Economics.

Early Life and Education

Edvard Westermarck was born in Helsinki, Finland, then part of the Russian Empire. He pursued his higher education at the University of Helsinki, where he developed an interest in anthropology, sociology, and philosophy. Westermarck was influenced by the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin, which shaped much of his later work.

Career

Westermarck's career was distinguished by his contributions to the understanding of human marriage practices and morality. His most notable works include The History of Human Marriage (1891) and The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906-1908). In these works, Westermarck argued against the prevailing view that marriage was a social construct, instead suggesting that it had natural origins. He also proposed that the incest taboo was a universal phenomenon arising from an innate human aversion to sexual relations between close kin, a theory that came to be known as the Westermarck effect.

Throughout his career, Westermarck held academic positions that allowed him to further his research and influence the field. He was a professor of sociology at the University of Helsinki and later at the London School of Economics, where he played a significant role in the development of the sociology department.

Legacy

Westermarck's theories on marriage and morality have had a lasting impact on the fields of sociology, anthropology, and psychology. His work on the incest taboo, in particular, has been influential in the study of human sexuality and family structures. Despite some criticism and challenges to his theories, Westermarck remains a significant figure in the history of social science.

His approach to understanding human society through an evolutionary lens contributed to the development of evolutionary psychology and the cross-cultural study of morals and ethics. Westermarck's emphasis on empirical research and his critical stance towards ethnocentrism in anthropology and sociology have also left a lasting legacy in these disciplines.

Selected Works

• The History of Human Marriage (1891)
• The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906-1908)
• Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco (1914)
• Ethical Relativity (1932)

See Also

• Sociology of the family
• Evolutionary psychology
• Anthropology
• Incest taboo