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
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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,
Freud included a cornucopia of various themes in this book. The first of these is the recurring theme of the primal father and his psychological heritage. This is one of Freud’s most controversial cultural speculations. Freud proposes that human societies were
from wrong even if they did not believe in a God. According to Freud, humans belonged
The first argument that Freud makes in his assault on religion regards civilization. Freud argues that human
Though only two and a half minutes long and consisting of only eight shots, this scene from Jean Renoir’s 1937 film The Grand Illusion, efficiently and poignantly introduces both the characters and audience to the divisions–of class and outlook–that permeated European society during the Great War. Through visual, audial, and narrative devices, Renoir comments on the irony and foolishness of the pre-World War I aristocratic perspective on war.
Freud mainly focuses on human nature and questions the desire, ideas ,and beliefs that shape a human, he then further analyses them. We see in his literature, Civilization and its Disconnect, that he questions religion and the belief in God. He himself does not believe in God, but wants to know why many people follow and trust something that they cannot see. He also questions the concept of human relationships. Knowing that a two person relationship and interaction is inevitable and that it is a part of life, but he does not know if a third relationship, and further on, is necessary. Regardless, human relationships are a part of society, and one of causes of civilizations, which Freud defines as “the whole some of achievement and the regulations which distinguish our lives” (Freud). With one of the achievements
context, Freud is to be seen as having reconstructed the biblical history in accordance with his
Carl Gustav Jung is a Swiss psychiatrist and the successor of psychoanalysis with important intellectual movements of the twentieth century. In his early career, Jung was influenced by the theory of Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis (Breger 2000, p. 217). However, they came into disagreement in notions which then broke their relationship. It was because Freud’s view of myth was based on reality, which there was no religion involved, whereas Jung though that myth was based on both reality and religion. Consequently, Jung’s notions were commonly accepted by society because of the wider context. Then, through his research and clinical findings, he developed some concepts like archetypes, collective unconscious, shadow, extrovert and introvert and persona (Carter 2011 p. 442). These concepts help Jung to deepen the explanation about myth. For Jung, myth is a projection of archetypes and collective unconscious. Their form are universal and identical with every society back into history. Myth can be identical because the original form, the archetypes, is configured to be the same among human's unconscious globally where people's psychic realm encounters certain motifs and typical figures that built into the structure of man’s unconsciousness (Jung Myth Ex. 3-4). According to Edward Tylor and James Frazer, myth and science were contradict where science was factual and myth was not (Segal 2003, p. 48). Therefore, myth has an important role in human nature and modern
Religion emerges from the human susceptibility for protection and use it as a tool for liberation from the bitter realities and perplexities of the world. “Religious ideas are teachings and pronouncements about facts and states of external (or internal) reality that convey something one has not discovered for oneself and which assert the right to be believed” (Freud 88). We must object to religious claims because there is no proof to substantiate them and merely ideas we follow for generations. Religious ideas are beyond the control of reasoning, as if we don’t validate our beliefs and behave that our beliefs have a substantial basis of support. Religious ideas are teachings, not the thought that
Although Freud argues that these religious values should not be accepted due to the absence of proof; people find interest in the information, connection to ones beliefs and answers to otherwise indefinable questions through religion. The three claims made to support religious foundation are: beliefs practiced and shared by ancestors, possession of proofs and it is socially forbidden to raise questions regarding evidence supporting religious ideas (p. 33). Freud is quick to rebut these claims with three reasons to be suspicious. He begins by denouncing the ancestors who passed down these religious doctrines as being too ignorant to trust. He then condemns the proofs as impossible to judge for any truth as a result of being “full of contradictions, revisions and falsifications” (p. 33). He finally stated that the third claim was the most suspicious of all, pronouncing that openly reproaching the question of authenticity was a clear declaration of society’s insecurity with the religious doctrines. Freud fails to understand how religion has the ability to assume such great influence over civilization without any unequivocal evidence supporting its ideas. His rebuttal successfully casts a sense of foolishness and absurdity on the inadequate and irrational claims. The claims themselves seem to be grasping for any semi-valid idea or at least an idea which proves difficult to question. Although society thinks they are showing respect and good
On the other hand, Freud is more concerned with instilling the idea that infancy and childhood is a key role in development, he states, “by the time the child's intellect awakens, the doctrines of religion have already become unassailable,” suggesting that religion is a force that shapes civilization in which people function, as well as form our judgment of human civilization. Hence, the importance of developing successfully as opposed to failing to function in society, whether they are religious or not. Instead, he dubs man as “a creature of weak intelligence who is ruled by his instinctual wishes.”
An example of this is in his other book, Moses and Monotheism, Freud tries to apply his theory to Judaism and Christianity. According to Freud, Moses was an Egyptian who forced his religion upon the Jews. The Jews, in a manic state, kill Moses on the mountain just outside of the Promised Land. This created a large-scale sense of guilt, which created the need for salvation expressed by these religions: ‘Remorse for the murder of Moses provided the stimulus for the wishful fantasy of the Messiah, who was to return and lead his people to redemption.’ Freud also goes on to say in The Future of an Illusion that ‘religion is the collective neurosis of humanity’. He notes that there are similarities to obsessive compulsions in religion. For example, prayers/worship is to be performed exactly, repeated, anxiety if omitted and a sense of relief once ritualised. The sense of guilt if these criteria are not met is parallel to the guilt held from killing the dominant male as primal hordes. Freud claims that religion protects us from developing individual neuroses which may not be accepted by society. Because religion is a part of our culture and therefore accepted, it is not seen as a defect. There is a need for protection from a father figure (infantilism), and in this respect Freud rebrands Feuerbach’s theories of ‘projection’ of the perfect being to ‘wish-fulfilment’, and of desired infantile protection. Freud says that the female counterpart to this
Sigmund Freud’s influence on modern day thinking permeates into our lives every day whether or not we realize it. Although much of his work has either been refuted or revised, his ideas have influenced an enormous spectrum of psychology and how we view life through our own thoughts. While his influence is irrefutable, the opinions concerning Freud and his writings vary greatly throughout the world. Individuals may distinguish the great genius in his groundbreaking theories of psychoanalysis, or they may reject his writings arguing that he had pushed the envelope too far. Either way, it is safe to say that his theories still evoke a considerable amount of debate to this day. Out of all of Freud’s theories, however, it can be argued that his
Psychologist, psychoanalyst, doctor of medicine, and author, Sigmund Freud’s contributions to the world of science and psychology were far from limited. The self and widely regarded scientist was born in Friedberg in 1856 where he lived before moving to Vienna, Germany, where he would later produce founding revelations at the birth of psychology as a science. From his beginnings, Freud focused on psychopathology and the conscious mind (Jones, 1949). The renowned “Father of Psychoanalysis” created a pathway and a foundation for psychology, influencing the world of psychology from its birth to modern day practice. Freud’s delve into the unconscious, dreams, psychosexual development, and the id, ego, and super-ego, are just a limited number of his studies that greatly influenced numerous psychologists and theories of modern psychology. One of his earliest practices and most accredited work dealt with psychoanalysis specifically. Though this practice is seldom used in modern psychology in the treatment of psychological disorders, it assuredly carried great influence in the development of modern practices of psychological theories. Freud’s creation of psychoanalysis exceeded his professional career, influencing modern psychologists and theories, one specifically being ego psychology, that was founded in the mid 20th century of modern
Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, is predominantly recognized as one of the most influential and authoritative thinkers of the twentieth century. Freud gave a broad perspective on things involving dreams, religion, and cultural artifacts while still focusing on different states of the mind, such as unconsciousness. Freud also relied on a local sexual repression issue to create theories about human behavior. His theories and ideas of psychoanalysis still have a strong impact on psychology and early childhood education today. Freud’s most important claim is that with psychoanalysis he had invented a new science of the mind, however, remains the subject of copious critical debate and controversy.
Nevertheless, this reason does not applied to everyone. Some people do have illusion because they are not able to find any happiness in the real world and as a result, they start having an illusion. Simply said, reality sometimes hurt. “Everything that Rises must Converge” by Flannery O’ Connor, “Wash” by William Faulkner, and “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck explore the dual nature of a person’s self-image, and the balance between what one fantasizes and aspires to be versus the reality imposed by one’s personal abilities and/or socio-economic environment. Based on the three literature masterpieces, a person fluctuates between the reality of one’s position in life and one’s notion of what she/he aspires to be like because it is a sort of motivation, to feel good about themselves and illusion elevates one’s