The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas — Edward Westermarck
eBook of Edward Westermarck's The Origin and Development of the Moral Ideas, 2nd ed. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org . If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook. Title : The origin and development of the moral ideas Author : Edward Westermarck Release date : May 19, 2016 [eBook #52106] Most recently updated: October 23, 2024 Language : English Other information and formats : www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/52106 Credits : Produced by Ed Brandon from materials provided by The Internet Archive. *** START OF You may go to Volume 1 (chapters 1 to 27), Initial matter Table of Contents Volume 2 (chapters 28 to 53, etc.), Initial matter Table of Contents THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MORAL IDEAS MACMILLAN AND CO., L IMITED LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO DALLAS . SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, L TD. TORONTO THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE MORAL IDEAS BY EDWARD WESTERMARCK, PH.D., LL.D. MARTIN WHITE PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON PROFESSOR OF MORAL PHILOSOPHY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF FINLAND, HELSlNGFORS AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF HUMAN MARRIAGE” IN TWO VOLUMES V OL . I SECOND EDITION MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON 1924. COPYRIGHT First Edition 1906 Second Edition 1912 Reprinted 1924 PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN PREFACE T HE frequent references made in the present work, on my own authority, to customs and ideas prevalent among the natives of Morocco, require a word of explanation. Seeing the close connection between moral opinions and magic and religious beliefs, I thought it might be useful for me to acquire first-hand knowledge of the folk-lore of some non-European people, and for various reasons I chose Morocco as my field of research. During the four years I spent there, largely among its country population, I have not only collected anthropological data, but tried to make myself familiar with the native way of thinking; and I venture to believe that this has helped me to understand various customs occurring at a stage of civilisation different from our own. I purpose before long to publish the detailed results of my studies in a special monograph on the popular religion and magics of the Moors. For these researches I have derived much material support from the University of Helsingfors. I am also indebted to the Russian Minister at Tangier, M. B. de Bacheracht, for his kindness in helping me on several occasions when I was dependent on the Sultan’s Government. All the time I have had the valuable assistance of my Moorish friend Shereef ‘Abd-es-Salâm el-Baḳḳâli, to whom credit is due for the kind reception I invariably received from peasants and mountaineers, not generally noted for friendliness towards Europeans. I beg to express my best thanks to Mr. Stephen Gwynn for revising the first thirteen chapters, and to Mr. H. C. Minchin for revising the remaining portion of the book. To their suggestions I am indebted for the improvement of many phrases and expressions. I have likewise to thank my friend Mr. Alex. F. Shand for kindly reading the proofs of the earlier chapters and giving me the benefit of his opinion. Throughout the work the reader will easily find how much I owe to British science and thought—a debt which is greater than I can ever express. E. W. L ONDON , January , 1906. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION T HE present edition is only a reprint of the first, with a few inaccurate expressions corrected. E. W. L ONDON , July , 1912. CONTENTS INTRODUCTORY The origin of the present investigation, p. 1 .—Its subject-matter, p. 1 sq. —Its practical usefulness, p. 2 sq. CHAPTER I THE EMOTIONAL ORIGIN OF MORAL JUDGMENTS The moral concepts essentially generalisations of tendencies in certain phenomena to call forth moral emotions, pp. 4 –6.—The assumed universality or “objectivity” of moral judgments, p. 6 sq. —Theories according to which the moral predicates derive all their import from reason, “theoretical” or “practical,” p. 7 sq. —Our tendency to objectivise moral judgments, no sufficient ground for referring them to the province of reason, p. 8 sq. —This tendency partly due to the comparatively uniform nature of the moral consciousness, p. 9 .—Differences of moral estimates resulting from circumstances of a purely intellectual character, pp. 9 –11.—Differences of an emotional origin, pp. 11 –13.—Quantitative, as well as qualitative, differences, p. 13 .—The tendency to objectivise moral judgments partly due to the authority ascribed to moral rules, p. 14 .—The origin and nature of this authority, pp. 14 –17.—General moral truths non-existent, p. 17 sq. —The object of scientific ethics not to fix rules for human conduct, but to study the moral consciousness as a fact, p. 18 .—The supposed dangers of ethical subjectivism, pp. 18 –20. CHAPTER II THE NATURE OF THE MORAL EMOTIONS The moral emotions of two kinds: disapproval, or indignation, and approval, p. 21 .—The moral emotions retributive emotions, disapproval forming a sub-species of resentment, and approval a sub-species of retributive kindly emotion, ibid. —Resentment an aggressive attitude of mind toward a cause of pain, p. 22 sq. —Dr. Steinmetz’s suggestion that revenge is essentially rooted in the feeling of power and superiority, and originally “undirected,” pp. 23 –27.—The true import of the facts adduced as evidence for this hypothesis, pp. 27 –30.—The collective responsibility usually involved in the institution of the blood-feud, pp. 30 –32.—Explanation of it, pp. 32 –35.— The strong tendency to discrimination which characterises resentment not wholly lost even behind the veil of common responsibility, p. 35 sq. —Revenge among the lower animals, p. 37 sq. —Violation of the “self-feeling” a common incentive to resentment,