Freud and jung on religion by michael palmer, 1997 online. During the rise of nazism in germany in the 1930s, jung was often accused of being a nazi sympathizer, serving as the president of the international general medical society for psychotherapy, a. Michael palmer provides a detailed account of the theories of religion of both freud and jung and sets them side by side for the first time in the first section of the text dr palmer analyses freud s claim that religion is an obsessional neurosis a psychological illness fuelled by sexual repression. Freud attacked religion more generally in the future of an illusion 1927. Freud and darwinism jerry bergman darwin had a major influence on sigmund freud and the development of his human behavior theory.
Often theologians tend to neglect the importance theories of religion have in the overall study of religious discourse. When it came to religion, freud believed that two main thought processes led to monotheism. Sigmund freud and his psychological views on religion. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Carl jung was an early supporter of freud because of their shared interest in the unconscious. Freud regarded god as an illusion, based on the infantile need for a powerful father figure.
Carl jung the complete works 20 free books pdf collection carl jung the complete works 20 free books pdf collection. Magic is replaced by religion which in turn will be replaced by science. Jung so relentlessly psychologizesreligion that religion replaced by psychology is religion as it has always been. Jung and freud believed the unconscious plays a vital role in peoples lives. Sigmund freud is most famous for his psychoanalytic school of thought, but he also took a keen interest in religion. But did you know some of his research focused on theories about religion.
Difference between freud and jung compare the difference. Freud vs jung knowing the difference between freud and jung and the difference between their theories are essential for any psychology student as sigmund freud and carl jung are both considered as psychologists who made a tremendous contribution to the fields of psychology. In freuds next book, the future of an illusion 1927, freud stated that religion was an illusion and had no future. Freud comprised the beginning and ending of the third step. Freud and jung were both interested in the unconscious mind. Sigmund freud religious belief as a product of the. Freud implies that religion is the suppression, the renunciation of certain instinctual impulses, which are not limited components of the sexual desire or instinct and are actually. Pdf jung attributed a religious dimension to the individuating process and postulated the existence. Clark, 2012, understanding religion and spirituality in. Jung and freud disagreed over the fundamentals and derivatives of dreams. Sigmund freud s views on religion are described in several of his books and essays. His interest in indian religion greatly affected his later work which became more spiritual and mystical.
According to freud, neurosis is an individual religion because it is a belief that comes about to a person alone. One of the essays which can be found on page 87 entitled the dreamlike world of india show jung expressing his utter positive attitude and amazement at the indian subcontinent and their religious and ethnic culture. Freud, sigmund hartford institute for religion research. Freud discovered that repression is one of the main mechanisms in the making of. Rage and anxiety in the split between freud and jung. When the study of myths and religions intensified through the 19th century, patterns of them were extracted and compared, and theories on what they revealed about common human conditions emerged. Freud s and jung s theories on myth and its origin. Religion exists in order to avoid the hard facts of life and retreat into wishful thinking. The close relationship she formed with freud led to rumours, started by carl jung, of an affair. To him, these stories were the essence of any religion, and therefore he was more keen to explore the origin of myths, than of religion as a whole. Famous psychoanalyst with famously eccentric research.
The relationship between carl jung and sigmund freud began in 1906 when jung sent freud a signed copy of his published studies. Freuds acceptance of religion as a symptom is born from resignation, but it opens the possibility for a shift in his view of religion. Where freud was mainly interested in the origin of religion and explanations to ritual, jung focused on myth and legend, the stories told within religions. Theories of religion seek to explain the origin and function of religion while other, more hostile approaches to religious. Mar 11, 2017 2 brainstorm sheets with subtitles for students to complete. Jung s most sustained interpretation of the religious function in individual experience. They have fundamentally shaped our understanding of modern psychology and mental illness. When the international psychoanalytical association formed in 1910 jung became president at the request of freud. Freud and jung on religion free pdf, djvu, fb2, fb3. Freud and jung on religion is suitable for the general and specialist reader alike, as it assumes no prior knowledge of the theories of freud and jung. Spirituality and religion society of analytical psychology. Jun 04, 2019 this symbolic process within us, or that need to express unknown, unknowable, inexpressible facts, culminates in religion.
By michael palmer freud and jung on religion by michael palmer michael palmer provides a detailed account of the theories of religion of both freud and jung and sets them side by side for the first time in the first section of the text dr palmer analyses freud s claim that religion is an obsessional neurosis a. Jung presents a sane and practical psychology, and is fair and sympathetic in his attitude toward religion. Freud and jung are also modernists, unlike fundamentalists, in rejecting religious explanations in favor of scientific ones. The criticisms made by authors such as alvin plantinga, john hick, william p. Dec 17, 2014 freud vs jung knowing the difference between freud and jung and the difference between their theories are essential for any psychology student as sigmund freud and carl jung are both considered as psychologists who made a tremendous contribution to the fields of psychology. Between freud and jung bloomed a very strong friendship, which ultimately faded away due to the clashes. Freud and jung on religion is suitable for general and specialist reader alike, as it assumes no prior knowledge of the theories of freud or jung and is an invaluable teaching text. According to jay geller, moses and monotheism is full of false starts, deferred conclusions, repetitions, rationalizations. This point leads on from point 4 on the subject of symbolism. In its first part from 1st to 28th lecture freud enthusiastically outlines his approach to the unconscious, dreams, the theory of neuroses and some technical issues in the form in which it was formulated at the time of reading the lectures in vienna in 19161917.
Freud acted as a mentor and father figure towards jung, and jung acted as an energetic new prospect to the movement towards freud. Abstractin jung s ethics, dan merkur, a psychoanalyst in toronto and the author of many books on the inuit, psychoanalytic theory, mysticism, and druginduced religious experience, here writes for the first time on jungian psychology. Unknown to jung, freud had already purchased his own copy of the book after hearing how favorably his name figured into the writings. Religion in jungs view was a necessary part of the individuation process, and offered a method of communication between humans. In jung s book psychology and the eastvolume two of psychology of religion, jung recounts his journey to india. What are the similarities between theories of jung and freud. Jung believed that the deepest urge within every living creature was to fulfil itself. Jung appeared to know a great deal more about religion on a world scale than freud. Religion and individuation contributed by frieda fordham the study of the archetypes of the collective unconscious, has led jung to some interesting conclusions, one of the most important of which is that man possesses what he describes as.
Psychology school lessons sigmund freud and carl jung. Pdf carl gustav jung psychology and religionbook fi org. Nevertheless, they are renowned for having significantly different approaches to the discipline. Powerpoint with a short video and criticisms of freud and jung. Jung s ideas on myth and religion have made far more of an impact than those of freud among scholars, as well as to an even larger extent on the general public. Carl gustav jung psychology and religionbook fi org.
In moses and monotheism, freud proposed that moses had been a priest of akhenaten who fled egypt after the pharaohs death and perpetuated monotheism through a different religion. The jungian interpretation of religion, pioneered by carl jung and advanced by his followers, is an attempt to interpret religion in the light of jungian psychology. Please note that the main idea of religion in vienna was monotheism. Jung so relentlessly psychologizes religion that religion replaced by psychology is religion. Carl jung and islamoriginal version dreaming in symbols. Psychology of religion a commentary on the classic texts. Freud on religion 3 religion has a historical development. The paper is a critique of recent criticisms of sigmund freuds theory that religion is based on wishful thinking. Yet both freud and jung continued to impute psychological disorders to each other for many, many years after their split, freud mostly privately and jung often publicly. Freud said that jungs feelings about religion were.
This was based upon the idea that the archetypes and. He agrees with rudolf ottos understanding of religious experience as a careful and scrupulous observationthe numinous. A critique of recent criticisms of freud on religious belief. While both freud and jung view religion psychologically, freuds rejection of its explanatory aspect makes him condemn it, whereas this is not so for jung. Apr 28, 2016 jung appeared to know a great deal more about religion on a world scale than freud. Carl jung religious belief as a product of the human mind. He even wrote several books focused on the topic of religion. Pdf sigmund freuds theory of religion and the sacrament of.
In the pioneer work that was carried on in the field of psychoanalysis, there are three names that stand out, sigmund freud, alfred. More information about mark and his book can be found at the end of this excerpt. Freud vs jung similarities and differences harley therapy. Their efforts in a dynamic field has made psychology school a popular choice of studyand students are. Michael palmers book, is exactly what it says it is. Jung described freud as intelligent and freud said jung was his adopted eldest son. Jung claimed that freuds feelings about sex were religious in nature jung 1956a, p.
By contrast, jung wrote extensively on religion and rejected freud s pansexualism, emphasized the role of spiritual quests in personal development, and focused on the autonomous significance of archetypes, symbols, and myths. Differences between jung and freud difference between. He was an active member of the vienna psychoanalytic society formerly known as the wednesday psychological society. Mar 30, 2020 sigmund freud is most famous for his psychoanalytic school of thought, but he also took a keen interest in religion. Firstly animism, secondly polytheism, thirdly theism. Freud has made a courageous effort to elucidate the intricacies of dream psychology by the aid of. Sigmund freud and carl jung are considered the founding fathers of psychoanalytical psychology. While freud was an original thinker, his theories and studies were influenced by the works of other scholars including breuer and charcot. Both jung and freud believed in the unconscious in terms of self and of desires.
Nevertheless, jung saw that for some people the structure of a church was an adequate psychic container, and he was content to end a therapy if the patient returned to, or joined, a religious community c. As an adult, freud considered himself an atheist, but his jewish background and upbringing and background played an important role in the development of his ideas. James, leuba, freud, and jung were adventurers in the field of the psychology of religion, exploring where no one had ventured before and attempting an analysis that others would have understandably shied away from, given the problematic nature of the subject matter. Michael palmer provides a detailed account of the theories of religion of both freud and jung and sets them side by. Freud, in turn, has profoundly influenced much of the field of psychology. Nowadays his theories about the cultural and historical development of religion have been largely discredited. The religious implications of jungs psychology semantic scholar.
He begins to realize that he might have underestimated the cultural value of religion, if the possibility to outgrow it doesnt really exist. Freuds view of religion philosophical explorations. Kop freud and jung on religion av michael palmer pa. Where freud remains little more than a joke in the field of history of religion and the study of myth, jung has made a lasting impression through most of the 20th century, to. The religious and moral and philosophical confusion, even the confusion in our art, is due to the world war. In 1906 they met and got along very well, as both jung and freud were psychiatrists. Jung contra freud the 1912 new york lectures on the theory of psychoanalysis. Psychology and religion association of jungian analysts.
For freud, phantasies and symbols were the means whereby the individual seeks to avoid reality. Jung justified human behavior by exploring the sense of connectedness that we feel regarding our emotions and actions. While both freud and jung view religion psychologically, freud s rejection of its explanatory aspect makes him condemn it, whereas this is not so for jung. Religion in jung s view was a necessary part of the individuation process, and offered a method of communication between humans. The second section considers jungs rejection of freuds theory and his own assertion that it is the absence of religion, not its presence, which leads to neurosis.
Follow this link for a background on carl gustav jung. I argue that changes in freud s understanding of anxiety necessitate changes in his critique of religion. Depth psychology and the humanities essays in archetype by mark greene, ph. Jungs ideas were influenced by his extensive knowledge regarding philosophy, mythology and religion. They believed that there are contents in the unconscious that affect peoples conscious personalities, contents that people can become conscious of, especially through d. Jung s body of work full of discussions on religion. Freud and jung s friendship and business partnership soon died over their differences in beliefs. The second section considers jung s rejection of freud s theory and his own assertion that it is the absence of religion, not its presence, which leads to neurosis. Freud relationship of jung and freud carl jung and freud worked alongside each other. This essay addresses freud s psychoanalytic critique of religion. It will be essential reading for all those concerned with contemporary debates between the disciplines of psychology and religion. This article tries to throw new light on the freud jung relationship. I hope that you enjoyed this summary of jung on religion and found it helpful for your studies.
By contrast, carl gustav jung saw these as symbols. First, it studies the nature of the fundamental differences between the two theories. Views from sigmund freud essay 1257 words 6 pages sigmund freud was a psychologist known as the father of psychoanalysis who believed that our sense of moral understanding is a result of the conditioning of a growing being. Unlike sigmund freud and his followers, jungians tend to treat religious beliefs and behaviors in a positive light, while offering psychological referents to traditional religious. Sigmund freud and carl jung had very different approaches to psychology, but both are considered to be the founders of the modern psychoanalytic movement. As to the difference between freuds and my own views, i would refer the reader to my little essay on this subject, freud and jung. Classical freudian psychology has now been widely discredited, and research has shown much of the theory behind psychoanalysis to be erroneous. So, it becomes redundant to apply the below theory to eastern religions like buddhism.
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