ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how Edward Westermarck's reflections on the emotions as the primary source of morality anticipate a blurring of the lines between descriptive ethics and meta-ethics, a development that has only been strengthened within the emergent field of experimental moral psychology. Westermarck blurs the lines not the least because of his unique position as philosopher, sociologist and anthropologist. The chapter presents a brief overview of some significant moments in the origin of the moral philosophy turned into moral psychology. It provides some of the methodological key issues framing these debates as one way of approaching Westermarck's thought. These concern, on the one hand, the relation of both emotions and morality to what can be seen as facts and values, an objective and subjective reality. On the other hand, they raise more broad-ranging questions about the scope and methods of philosophy and its relation to empirical science.
