Edvard Westermarck
Edvard Westermarck | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | 3 September 1939 | (aged 76)
Nationality | Finnish |
Known for | Westermarck effect |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Sociology |
Institutions | London School of Economics |
Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 in
Biography
Westermarck was born in 1862 in a well-off Lutheran[3] 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.[4]
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, a student society promoting religious freedom.[5] He was promoted to professor of Moral Philosophy in 1906 and occupied that chair until 1918,[6] when he moved to the Åbo Akademi University in Turku.[7]
While still teaching Philosophy in Turku, he helped found academic
Views
He has been described as "first
The phenomenon of reverse sexual imprinting is when two people live in close domestic proximity during the first few years in the life of either one, and both become desensitised to sexual attraction, now known as the Westermarck effect, was first formally described by him 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).[6] 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.[4]
Westermarck critiqued Christian institutions and Christian ideas on the grounds that they lacked foundation. He was also a moral
In the UK, his name is often spelled Edward. His sister, Helena Westermarck, was a writer and artist.[10]
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
- ^ Hertzberg, Lars. "WESTERMARCK, Edvard" (in Swedish). Biografiskt lexikon för Finland. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
- Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. urn:NBN:fi:sls-4841-1416928957447.
- ^ Anthropological Association, American (2008). Abstracts of the Annual Meeting, 2008. American Anthropological Association.
- ^ a b c Lyons, Andrew (2018). "A Revolutionary Anthropologist Before His Time: Intellectual Biography of Edward Westermarck". Bérose-Encyclopédie internationale des histoires de l'anthropologie. Bérose. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
- ^ "Prometheus". www.uppslagsverket.fi (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2021-12-15. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e "Edward Westermarck". Encyclopædia Britannica. 2019. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ a b c "Westermarck, Edward Alexander". Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press. 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2020.
- ^ Sanderson, SK. "REFORMING THEORETICAL WORK IN SOCIOLOGY: A DETAILED REPLY TO MY CRITICS"
- ^ Cited from: Bertrand Russell. Marriage and Morals
- ISBN 0816184569.
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
- Rolf Lagerborg (1951), Om Edvard Westermarck och verken från hans verkstad under hans tolv sista år 1927-39 / av Rolf Lagerborg, Wikidata 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
- Works by Edvard Westermarck at Project Gutenberg
- Petri Liukkonen. "Edvard Westermarck". Books and Writers.
- Westermarck, Edward (1862-1939), BEROSE International Encyclopaedia of the Histories of Anthropology
- The Westermarck Society
- 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