Freud & Nietzche on religions and christianity

greenspun.com : LUSENET : History & Theory of Psychology : One Thread

It is known that Sigmund Freud wrote about judaism, antisemitism & christianity, but what really was his position upon the existence of God and the human beign need to be part of that supranatural-natural relation. Is religion a need to mere existence or a manipulative expression to control man/woman? The answer is requested from Freud's thesis/point of view.

-- Yvonne Aguilu (yaguilu@yahoo.com), February 01, 2002

Answers

Freud's important books are Totem and Taboo, The Future of an Illusion, and Moses and Monotheism. I recommend as an introduction to Freud's position on religion, and a wonderful historical overview of the field, David M. Wulff's very fine Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views (John Wiley, 1991). This book is a modern "classic" and a "must have" reference work for every psychologist of religion's library. There is a later second edition that was geared a bit more towards the student reader. Freud spoke of religion as an "illusion," but what he meant by that is generally misunderstood. He was speaking of illusion in the same way that Winnicott speaks of Illusory Space between mother and child. A very fine application of Freud, and the notion that ontologically the illusionistic world lies between the autistic world and the realistic world, is provided by Paul W. Pruyser in The Play of the Imagination: Toward a Psychoanalysis of Culture (International Universities Press, 1983). The chart on page 65 of that book is a little gem that will summarize how the world of illusion differs from the other two worlds. You can of course find literally dozens of books analyzing Freud's position. A classic analysis of the role of his own Jewish religion in Freud's life is David Bakan's Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition (Van Nostrand, 1958). Another examination of this is Earl A. Grollman's Judaism in Sigmund Freud's World (Appleton-Century, 1965). Maryse Clouzet (Choisy) argues in Sigmund Freud: A New Appraisal (Citadel, 1963) that Freud cut himself off from the Hasidic tradition and that this rejection explains his "unbalanced view of the self." Another fascinating book is one by Freud and Oskar Pfister, Psychoanalysis and Faith: The Letters of Sigmund Freud and Oskar Pfister (Hogarth Press, 1963--and I think part of the collected works of Freud). I recommend that you start with Wulff's overview, and go from there.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), February 03, 2002.

Subject: Freud & Nietzche

A friend of mine has given Nietzche as an author of reference on this topic. However, I happen to read a quite similar book on the topic by Thich Nhat Hanh. I believe the place to find it is often in the spiritual retreats where there is a bookstore for guests.

Love,

Ln

-- lynnton (tuyenton00@aol.com), March 22, 2002.


To Whom It May Be Prove To Be Advantageous: The creation of religions is a product of our Cosmic Loneliness. We know that the Universe is not aware in any fashion,least of all; aware of each one of us individually. One at a time. We continue to deliberately ignore the fact: ALL of the so called "holy men" were barely capable of understanding their own surroundings. Empirical knowledge was still in its' embryonic state. Nevertheless, many of their axioms were later proven to be false. To give you one example: St. Agustine in THE CITY OF GOD dedicated a chapter to the doubtful existence of the earth's opposite poles. Basically, the dear man thought the woild wuz flattt!!!! Now consider that small episode, and the possibility of any supernatural guidance involved with humans. Why would god chose to hide his wisdom from his own followers, and thereby provide an embarrassment to the church, by proving the LACK of infallibility?

Nietzche understood the pantomime of the priests, and all religious caste/belief systems. Disregarding his obvious personal problems with the Jews, that he inadvertently revealed in GENEOLOGY OF MORALS, we have nevertheless; sound advice. By his caustic observations, we can unravel THE SMILE FULL OF VEILS, that the men "of the cloth" are capable of producing.

Yours Truly, Lance.

-- Lance Curtis (lazarloon@hotmail.com), August 31, 2004.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ