Editing Edvard Westermarck

{{Short description|Finnish sociologist (1862–1939)}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Edvard Westermarck
| image             = Edward westermarck.jpg
| image_size        = 
| caption           = 
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1862|11|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]]
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1939|9|3|1862|11|20|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Tenala]], [[Finland]]<ref name="Hertzberg">{{cite web | url = http://www.blf.fi/artikel.php?id=3685 | title = WESTERMARCK, Edvard | author = Hertzberg, Lars | language = sv | publisher = Biografiskt lexikon för Finland | access-date = 4 October 2020}}</ref>
| residence         = 
| citizenship       = 
| nationality       = [[Finns|Finnish]]
| field             = [[Sociology]]
| work_institutions = [[London School of Economics]]
| alma_mater        = 
| doctoral_advisor  = 
| doctoral_students = [[Ragnar Numelin]]
| known_for         = [[Westermarck effect]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| prizes            = 
| religion          = 
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = 
}}
[[File:Professor E.A. Westermarck, c1930s.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Westermarck]]
'''Edvard Alexander Westermarck''' (20 November 1862 in [[Helsinki]] – 3 September 1939 in [[Tenala]])<ref>{{BLF|3685|Edvard Westermarck}}</ref> was a [[Finland|Finnish]] [[philosopher]] and [[sociologist]].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1939 |title=Obituary: Edward Alexander Westermarck: 1862-1939 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2769859 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=45 |issue=3 |pages=452–452 |issn=0002-9602}}</ref> Among other subjects, he studied [[exogamy]] and the [[incest taboo]].

==Biography==
Westermarck was born in 1862 in a well-off Lutheran<ref>{{Cite book|last=Anthropological Association|first=American|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GYwjAQAAIAAJ&q=%22edward+westermarck%22+%22lutheran%22|title=Abstracts of the Annual Meeting, 2008|year=2008 |publisher=American Anthropological Association. }}</ref> family, part of the [[Swedish-speaking population of Finland]]. His father worked at the [[University of Helsinki]] as a bursar, and his maternal grandfather was a professor at the same university. It was thus natural for Edvard to study there, obtaining his first degree in [[philosophy]] in 1886, but developing also an interest in [[anthropology]] and reading the works of [[Charles Darwin]]. His thesis, [[The History of Human Marriage]], was published as a book in 1891, and would be published again in a substantially revised edition in 1921.<ref name="Berose">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Lyons|first=Andrew|title= A Revolutionary Anthropologist Before His Time: Intellectual Biography of Edward Westermarck|encyclopedia=Bérose-Encyclopédie internationale des histoires de l'anthropologie|url= http://www.berose.fr/article1452.html?lang=fr|access-date=19 January 2020|year=2018|publisher=Bérose}}</ref>

In 1892, Westermarck became a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Helsinki. While at the university, he became the chairman of the [[Prometheus Society (student society)|Prometheus Society]], a student society promoting religious freedom.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Prometheus|url=https://www.uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-170045-Prometheus|url-status=live|access-date=2021-12-16|website=www.uppslagsverket.fi|language=sv|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211215110014/https://www.uppslagsverket.fi/sv/sok/view-170045-Prometheus |archive-date=2021-12-15 }}</ref> He was promoted to professor of Moral Philosophy in 1906 and occupied that chair until 1918,<ref name="Britannica">{{cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Edward-Westermarck |title=Edward Westermarck|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=2019|website=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> when he moved to the [[Åbo Akademi University]] in [[Turku]].<ref name="Columbia">{{cite web|url=https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/social-science/sociology/westermarck-edward-alexander|title=Westermarck, Edward Alexander|author=<!--Not stated-->|date=2012|website=Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia|publisher=Columbia University Press|access-date=13 January 2020}}</ref> His students included [[Ragnar Numelin]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hoebel |first=E. Adamson |date=1950 |title=Review of The Beginnings of Diplomacy: A Sociological Study of Intertribal and International Relations. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2086620 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=15 |issue=6 |pages=810–810 |doi=10.2307/2086620 |issn=0003-1224}}</ref>

While still teaching Philosophy in Turku, he helped found academic [[sociology]] in the United Kingdom, becoming the first Martin White Professor of Sociology (with [[Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse]]) in 1907 in the [[University of London]].<ref name="Columbia" /><ref name="Britannica" /> One of the original reasons he spent time in London is he did not feel safe in Helsinki or Turku because of his advocacy of the independence of Finland, but even when the political situation quieted down, he continued teaching in both London and Turku until 1930 and 1932 respectively. He had also served for some years, between 1918 and 1921, as Rector of the Åbo Akademi University. He retired in 1932, and spent the rest of his life completing and publishing his major works, ''Ethical Relativity'' (1932), ''Three Essays on Sex and Morals'' (1934), ''The Future of Marriage in Western Civilization'' (1936) and ''Christianity and Morals'' (1939), the latter published in the year when he died. In 1929, he had published the English version, ''Memories of My Life'' of his autobiography, originally published in Swedish in 1927.<ref name="Berose" />

==Views==
He has been described as "first [[Darwinian]] sociologist" or "the first [[sociobiology|sociobiologist]]",<ref name=sanderson>Sanderson, SK. "REFORMING THEORETICAL WORK IN SOCIOLOGY: A DETAILED REPLY TO MY CRITICS"</ref> as well as “an authority in the history of morals and of marriage customs.”<ref name="Columbia" /> He denied the then prevailing view that early human beings lived in sexual promiscuity, arguing that in fact historically [[monogamy]] preceded [[polygamy]].<ref name="Britannica" /> He maintained that “Marriage is rooted in the family rather than the family in the marriage”.<ref>Cited from: [[Bertrand Russell]]. ''[[Marriage and Morals]]''</ref>

The phenomenon of reverse sexual imprinting, the diminution in sexual attraction between persons who lived in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, now known as the [[Westermarck effect]], was first formally described in his thesis ''The History of Human Marriage'' (1891).

Westermarck was also a scholar of [[Morocco]] and offered a positivist view of how its folk religion was formed in his two-volume work ''Ritual and Belief in Morocco'' (1926).<ref name="Britannica" /> He had started his fieldwork in Morocco as early as 1898, and visited the country 21 times in the next thirty years, spending in total seven years in the country. He also studied his favorite subject, marriage, there, publishing in 1914 ''Marriage Ceremonies of Morocco''.<ref name="Berose" />

Westermarck critiqued Christian institutions and Christian ideas on the grounds that they lacked foundation. He was also a moral [[relativist]] and in his two-volume ''The Origin and Development of Moral Ideas'' (1906–1908) he argued that moral judgements are not rational but are based on emotions and on social approval or disapproval. As a consequence, he also denied the existence of general or universal moral truth.<ref name="Britannica" />

In the UK, his name is often spelled '''Edward'''. His sister, [[Helena Westermarck]], was a writer and artist.<ref>{{cite book | last = Petteys | first = Chris | title = Dictionary of women artists : an international dictionary of women artists born before 1900 | publisher = G.K. Hall | location = Boston, Mass | year = 1985 | isbn = 0816184569 }}</ref>

== Books ==
*1891: ''[[The History of Human Marriage]].'' 3 Vol, Macmillan, London.
*1906: ''[[The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas]].'' 2 Vol, MacMillan, London
*1907: ''Siveys ja kristinusko: Esitelmä''. Ylioppilasyhdistys Prometheus, Helsinki.
*1914: ''Marriage Ceremonies in Morocco.'' Macmillan, London.
*1919: ''Tapojen historiaa: Kuusi akadeemista esitelmää: Pitänyt Turussa syksyllä 1911 Edward Westermarck''. 2nd edition. Suomalaisen kirjallisuuden seura, Helsinki.
*1920: ''Religion och magi'' (Religion and magick), Studentföreningen Verdandis Småskrifter 149, Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm
*1926: ''Ritual and Belief in Morocco''. 2 Vol.
*1926: ''A short History of Human Marriage''. Macmillan, London.
*1930: ''Wit and Wisdom in Morocco''. Routledge, London.
*1932: ''[[Ethical Relativity]]''.
*1932: ''Avioliiton historia''. WSOY, Helsinki.
*1932: ''Early Beliefs and Their Social Influence''. London: Macmillan.
*1933: ''Pagan Survivals in Mohammedan Civilisation''. London: Macmillan. 
*1933: ''Moraalin synty ja kehitys''. WSOY, Helsinki.
*1934: ''Three Essays on Sex and Marriage.'' Macmillan, London.
*1934: ''Freuds teori on Oedipuskomplexen i sociologisk belysning.'' Vetenskap och bildning, 45. Bonnier, Stockholm.
*1936: ''The future of Marriage in Western Civilisation.'' Macmillan, London.
*1937: "Forward" in ''The Wandering Spirit: A Study of Human Migration''. Macmillan, London
*1939: ''Kristinusko ja moraali'' (Christianity and Morals). Otava, Helsinki.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Juhani Ihanus: Multiple origins: Edward Westermarck in search of mankind. Frankfurt am Main [u.a.]: Lang, 1999 (Europäische Studien zur Ideen- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte; 6); {{ISBN|3-631-34455-4}}
* {{SLS Q|Q113526958}}
* Pipatti, Otto (2019). ''Morality Made Visible: Edward Westermarck's Moral and Social Theory''. London: Routledge ({{ISBN|978-0815347439}})
* Kirsti Suolinna, Catherine af Hällström & Tommy Lahtinen: Portraying Morocco: Edward Westermarck's fieldwork and photographs 1898–1913. Åbo: Akademis Förl, 2000; {{ISBN|951-765-046-9}}

==External links==
* {{Gutenberg author|id=46679}}
* {{Books and Writers |id=ewester |name=Edvard Westermarck}}
* [http://www.berose.fr/rubrique604.html Westermarck, Edward (1862-1939)], BEROSE International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology
*[http://www.westermarck.fi/?language=en The Westermarck Society]
*[http://375humanistia.helsinki.fi/en/humanists/edvard-westermarck Edvard Westermarck in 375 humanists 21.03.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki]
*http://375humanistia.helsinki.fi/en/edvard-westermarck/critic-of-religion-and-believer-in-radical-tolerance

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[[Category:1862 births]]
[[Category:1939 deaths]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Helsinki]]
[[Category:Swedish-speaking Finns]]
[[Category:Finnish sociologists]]
[[Category:Finnish anthropologists]]
[[Category:Social anthropologists]]
[[Category:Cultural anthropologists]]
[[Category:Sociologists of religion]]
[[Category:Anthropologists of religion]]
[[Category:Finnish health professionals]]
[[Category:Sexologists]]
[[Category:Finnish agnostics]]
[[Category:20th-century Finnish philosophers]]
[[Category:Incest]]
[[Category:Academics of the London School of Economics]]
[[Category:19th-century Finnish philosophers]]
[[Category:Academic staff of Åbo Akademi University]]