The Necessity of Belief, Or, The Trouble with Atheism

The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy and Psychoanalysis, 2019

Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 2000

In the next few weeks a pamphlet of mine will be appearing which has a great deal to do with you. I had been wanting to write it for a long time, and postponed it out of a regard for you, but the impulse became too strong. The subject-matter-as you will readily guess-is my completely negative attitude to religion, in any form and however attenuated, and, though there can be nothing new to you in this, I feared, and still fear, that such a public profession of my attitude will be painful to you. (pp. 109, 110

Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 2012

This study is an attempt to examine critically the views of Sigmund Freud on religion, and the socio-cultural milieu in which his thoughts germinated. What is the relevance of Freudian psychology of religion to contemporary scholarship? The study discovered that while the views of Freud on religion may not be altogether correct, his ideas on human nature are relevant to conservative religious thought. Freud was neither an adherent nor a student of religion, but his view on religion has been a subject of debate for many years. The study supports any effort(s) to edit and modify Freudian views on religion to make it more r shall compare and contrast contemporary research findings in the social religion with the hypothetical formulation of Freud.

2021

This article explores the ideas as well as convictions of Freud on God and religion. Freud propounded that God and religion originated as a result of the sublimation of unconscious mind. In Freud's view, religion originated as a result of the sublimation of unconscious mind filled with guilt and remorse, and the notion of God has its source in the sublimation of the father figure who is the source of protection in the face of danger. He related religious practices to obsessional neurosis. Refutation of Freud's views from the filed of psychology points to the relevance of belief in God and practice of religion for a healthy society.

Th is article aimed to examine the essence of religion by using Sigmund Freud' psychoanalysis. It looks at the Freud's theories: " the ontogenic " and " the phylo-genenic ". Th e origins of religious and belief traditions, as Freud had mapped, are neurosis, precarious future, and religion's masculine roots. Freud's realist approach on religion brought a controversy on the study of religion, i.e., by associating his patients and order cultural phenomena (art, literature, and philosophy). His falsifi cation over religion mad Freud as the most controversial man in his time. For Freud, the truth-value of religious doctrines does not lie within the scope of the present enquiry. It is enough for us, as Freud asserts that we have recognized them as being, in their psychological nature, illusions.

Religion, 2015

Journal of Religion and Health, 2013

With respect to our psychoanalytic frame of reference allowing us to study the extent of the hypotheses concerning the religious phenomenon as formulated by Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan, in the context of a cross approach between the accuracy of the concept of conversion and of psychic mechanisms or phenomena at stake within conversions, and based on the testimonials of subjects acknowledging themselves in the experiment of conversion, we try to understand if and how religion is anchored in our cultural era through subversive effects it may have on the subject.

2014

The author stresses that several recent contributions from psychoanalysts of different post-Freudian schools have shifted their focus of interest from the origins of religion as a historical and cultural phenomenon, to personal developmental paths toward religion as it can be observed in the case-history of individuals. The first benefit of this change is that all arguments about the truth value of religious beliefs can be avoided. To achieve this aim, the author, like many others, adopts the notion of the “illusory transitional phenomenon” introduced by Donald W. Winnicott. While the importance of this concept is pointed out here, some problems that it entails are also analyzed. Another recent trend involves the interaction of psychoanalysis with the neurosciences, cultural psychology, and attachment theory. Examples are presented and critically appraised as to their potential for understanding religion in individuals. Finally the author criticizes the wording “psychoanalysis of re...