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Future Of Illusion

Decent Essays

Michael A. Regester Tuesday, October 28, 2014
The Future of an Illusion,
In The Future of an Illusion, Sigmund Freud examines the power of religion within society and its uses. Freud questions the coexistence between psychoanalysis and the aforementioned role of religion. It is through his work that he postulates that religion is merely the universal obsessive neuroses of humanity. Although he doesn’t believe its completely a lost cause, Freud merely suggests that religion is born out of a deeper fulfillment of our wish to understand, both nature and fate, as well as a force to provide protection. Through the removal of religion, we thusly remove the societal crush that is employed to deal with given problems and learn to use the resources that are …show more content…

Freud argues that our putting a face on a societal god is merely a way of humanizing an otherwise unrealistic form in order to feel as though we are directly interacting with “it”. This “humanization” makes the individual able to fear the figure more and due to its all-powerful, omnipresent standing, we are able to attribute its presence to a sort of moral compass, which Freud suggests harkens back to the relationship with the father. Stemming from childhood, Freud suggests that this father figure as God is just another for of the Oedipus complex where you need to realize the fathers dominant role in order to overcome, ultimately killing him, and making your way into your mothers bed. In this respect, Freud sees such religious figures and ideas as illusion. The purpose of these illusions is to fulfill some sort of wish. On page 39 Freud states “…characterists of illusions is that they are derived from human wishes”. Freud also suggests that said illusions border on the line of psychiatric delusions and defines delusions as being in contradiction with reality. What is interesting to note is that although these Gods can be seen as illusions, and many may argue delusions,

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