Nationality Finnish Influenced Bronislaw Malinowski | Name Edvard Westermarck Role Philosopher | |
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Born 20 November 1862Helsinki, Finland ( 1862-11-20 ) Books The History of Human Marriage, The Origin and Develop, Ritual and Belief in Morocco, Ethical Relativity, Wit and wisdom in Morocco Similar People Kamehameha II, Kekuanaoʻa, Bronislaw Malinowski, Victoria Kamamalu, Kamehameha IV | ||
Nominations Nobel Prize in Literature | ||
Edvard Alexander Westermarck (20 November 1862 – 3 September 1939) was a Finnish philosopher and sociologist. Among other subjects, he studied exogamy and the incest taboo.
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 book The History of Human Marriage (1891).
He has been described as "first Darwinian sociologist" or "the first sociobiologist".
He helped found academic sociology in the United Kingdom, becoming the first professor of sociology (with Leonard Trelawny Hobhouse) in 1907 in the University of London. Other chairs he held were in Helsinki and Turku.
A radical free thinker for his time, he critiqued Christian institutions and Christian ideas on the grounds that they lacked foundation.
In the UK, his name is often spelled Edward. His sister, Helena Westermarck, was a writer and artist.
