Edvard Westermarck
Moral judgements express emotions of approval and disapproval that have become disinterested; since these emotions depend on experience, belief and custom, moral ideas differ between societies and none can claim objective validity – which should make us tolerant, not indifferent.
Placement
Finnish philosopher and sociologist in Helsinki, Turku and London: moral judgements rest on emotions of approval and indignation, which is why moral ideas differ between societies; he explained the avoidance of incest by an aversion between people raised together.
Key ideas
- Ethical relativity
- Moral emotions
- The history of human marriage
- The Westermarck effect
Students: Bronisław Malinowski
Influence
Influenced by 3
David Hume
influenced by
Westermarck placed his theory that moral judgements express disinterested emotions of approval and disapproval in Hume’s tradition, naming Hume a forerunner (Ethical Relativity, 1932). E. Westermarck, Ethical Relativity (1932); The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906–08); T. Stroup, Westermarck’s Ethics (1982); SEP “Hume’s Moral Philosophy”
Evidence: AI draft
David Hume › 1711–1776
Adam Smith
influenced by
Westermarck drew on Smith’s Theory of Moral Sentiments for the disinterestedness and apparent impartiality that make retributive emotions moral (Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, 1906–08). E. Westermarck, The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas (1906–08); O. Pipatti, Morality Made Visible: Edward Westermarck’s Moral and Social Theory (2019); SEP “Adam Smith’s Moral and Political Philosophy”
Evidence: AI draft
Adam Smith › 1723–1790
Charles Darwin
influenced by
Westermarck framed The History of Human Marriage (1891) with Darwin’s theory of descent and selection, arguing that lasting pair bonds, not promiscuity, go back to the earliest humans. E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (1891); C. Darwin, The Descent of Man (1871)
Evidence: AI draft
Charles Darwin › 1809–1882
Influenced 1
Bronisław Malinowski taught
taught
Malinowski came to the London School of Economics in 1910 to study with Westermarck and C. G. Seligman; there he wrote The Family among the Australian Aborigines (1913), and he took his DSc in 1916. M. W. Young, Malinowski: Odyssey of an Anthropologist, 1884–1920 (2004)
Evidence: AI draft
Bronisław Malinowski › 1884–1942
Criticism
Criticized by 2
Sigmund Freud
criticised by
Freud rejected Westermarck’s view that growing up together breeds sexual aversion: if incest were naturally avoided, it would need no strict prohibition (Totem und Tabu, 1913, ch. 4). S. Freud, Totem und Tabu (1913), ch. IV; E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage, 1891
Evidence: AI draft
Sigmund Freud › 1856–1939
Claude Lévi-Strauss
criticised by
Lévi-Strauss rejected Westermarck’s derivation of the incest taboo from an innate aversion among those raised together: what instinct secured would need no prohibition (Elementary Structures, 1949). C. Lévi-Strauss, Les structures élémentaires de la parenté (1949), ch. 2; E. Westermarck, The History of Human Marriage (1891)
Evidence: AI draft
Claude Lévi-Strauss › 1908–2009
Works
Comparative history that grew out of his doctoral work: against theories of an original promiscuity it argues that lasting pair bonds go back to the earliest humans, and explains the avoidance of incest by an aversion arising between people who grow up together.
Two volumes (1906–08) comparing moral customs worldwide: moral judgements arise from emotions of approval and disapproval that have become disinterested and general, which explains both their similarities and their variation between societies.
Position
Westermarck is on the map as a founder of comparative sociology and anthropology and as a classic defender of ethical relativity. “The History of Human Marriage” (1891) used Darwin’s theory and a wide range of ethnographic material against the then common view that human society began in promiscuity or group marriage: lasting pair bonds, he argued, go back to the earliest humans. To explain why incest is avoided, he proposed that people who grow up together develop an aversion to sexual relations with each other – a hypothesis rejected by Freud and Lévi-Strauss, but later supported by studies of Israeli kibbutzim and of “minor marriages” in Taiwan and now known as the “Westermarck effect”. In “The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas” (1906–08) and “Ethical Relativity” (1932) he held, in the tradition of Hume and Adam Smith, that moral judgements express emotions of approval and disapproval that have become disinterested; since these depend on circumstances, beliefs and customs, moral ideas vary, and none has objective validity. He did not conclude that anything goes, but expected greater tolerance from knowledge of the variety of moral opinion. His Moroccan studies remain an important source on North African ritual and belief.
Life & context
Edvard Westermarck was born on 20 November 1862 in Helsinki into a Swedish-speaking family; his father was the university’s bursar. He studied philosophy in Helsinki and from 1887 worked in the library of the British Museum in London on the history of marriage, the basis of his doctoral thesis (1889) and of “The History of Human Marriage” (1891). He taught sociology in Helsinki, was professor of moral philosophy there from 1906 to 1918 and at the same time held a chair of sociology at the University of London (1907–30), where Bronisław Malinowski was among his students. From 1898 he spent many years in Morocco, studying rituals, beliefs and customs. In 1918 he became professor of philosophy and the first rector of Åbo Akademi, the Swedish-language university in Turku. He died on 3 September 1939.
Further main works
- Ritual and Belief in Morocco (2 vols., 1926)
- Ethical Relativity (1932)
- Christianity and Morals (1939)
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