ABSTRACT

This chapter offers an analysis of a specific political dimension of the current Westermarckian 'renaissance', namely the use of his theories of morality and the family by American conservative intellectuals since the late 1980s. The chapter argues that the four conservatives, namely James Q. Wilson, Francis Fukuyama, Larry Arnhart, and Thomas Fleming, were drawn to Westermarck's work because of three themes in the Finn's oeuvre. They were: maternal and paternal emotions; (global) mating patterns and the emotions that guide them; and the incest taboo. To understand the recent right-wing enthusiasm for Westermarck as a Darwinian thinker, it is essential to see that, in the last forty years, an important subgenre of intellectual conservatism known as 'Darwinian conservatism' or 'neo-Darwinian conservatism' has emerged. In the context of his 'Darwinian natural right' philosophy, Arnhart has discussed several Westermarckian ideas relating to the family.