Edvard Westermarck

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Edvard Westermarck (unknown photographer, before 1920)

Edvard Alexander Westermarck (born November 20, 1862 in Helsinki , † September 3, 1939 in Tenala ; spellings also: Edward, Eduard) was a Finnish philosopher , sociologist and ethnologist . He is considered the founder of Finnish sociology and had a significant influence on the later sociologists of his country. The Finnish Society for Sociology ( Westermarck Society ) is named after him.

Life

Westermarck taught at the London School of Economics and in Helsinki. His students include Gunnar Landtman and Rafael Karsten .

His sister was the artist Helena Westermarck .

Westermarck Effect

The Westermarck effect is named after him. This states that two people, regardless of whether they are related or not, will later find each other non- sexually attractive if they have grown up in close proximity for a long time. The evolutionary sense of the effect would be to avoid inbreeding between siblings - who often spend a large part of their childhood together. Exogamy offers a biological selection advantage, it is not a cultural phenomenon.

Publications (selection)

Finnish:

  • Siveys ja Kristinusko: Esitelmä. Ylioppilasyhdistys Prometheus, Helsinki 1907.
  • Avioliiton historia. WSOY, Porvoo 1932.
  • Moraalin synty yes kehitys. WSOY, Porvoo 1933.
  • Freud's teori on Oedipuskomplexen i sociologisk belysning. In: Vetenskap och bildning. Born 45, Stockholm 1934.
  • Kristinusko yes moraali. Otava, Helsinki 1984.
  • Tapojen historiaa: Kuusi akadeemista esitelmää. Pitänyt Turussa syksyllä 1911 Edward Westermarck. 2nd Edition. Helsinki 1991.

German:

  • Origin and development of moral concepts. 2 volumes. Translated from the Finnish by Leopold Katscher. Leipzig 1913.

Westermarck wrote for the magazine Die Neue Generation , which was published by the sex reformer Helene Stöcker .

  • History of human marriage. Jena 1893.

English:

  • The Belief in Spirits in Morocco. Abo Akademi / The Finnish Literary Society, Abo / Helsingfors 1920 (Acta Academiae Aboensis; Humaniora I, 1).
  • The History of Human Marriage . 2 volumes. Macmillan, London 1925 (1891).
  • Ritual and Belief in Morocco . 2 volumes. Macmillan, London 1926.
  • The Goodness of Gods. Watts, London 1926 (The Forum Series).
  • Memories of My Life. MaCauley, New York 1929.
  • Wit and Wisdom in Morocco. 1931. Digitized
  • Ethical Relativity. London 1932 ( International Library of Psychology, Philosophy and Scientific Method ).
  • Three Essays on Sex and Marriage. Macmillan, London 1934.
  • The future of marriage in western civilization. Macmillan, London 1937.

French:

  • L'origine et le développement des idées morales. 2 volumes. Translated from Finnish by Robert Godet. Payot, 1928-1929.
  • Survivances païennes in the civilization mahométane. Translated from Finnish by Robert Godet. Payot, Paris 1935 (Bibliotheque Historique).

literature

About the Westermarck effect
  • Delphine De Smet, Linda Van Speybroeck, Jan Verplaetse: The Westermarck effect revisited: a psychophysiological study of sibling incest aversion in young female adults , Evolution and Human Behavior, Volume 35, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 34–42, ISSN 1090-5138 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2013.09.004 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Edvard Westermarck: The History of Human Marriage. Macmillan, London 1891; as well as the same: Recent Theories of Exogamy. In: Sociological Review. Volume 26, 1934, pp. 22–44.
personal data
SURNAME Westermarck, Edvard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Westermarck, Edvard Alexander (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Founder of Finnish sociology
DATE OF BIRTH November 20, 1862
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsinki
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 1939
Place of death Tenala