Freud is famous for portraying religion as a collective neurosis of mankind.
He argued that religious beliefs give expression to wish-fulfilling illusions, serving the immature emotional needs of the child living on within the adult.
Such illusions – he sternly maintained – should be cast aside and replaced by ideas corresponding to reality – namely, the materialistic world view that emerges gradually but inescapably from the cumulative process of scientific observation.
This is one side of Freud – expressing his self-image as an ‘Enlightenment philosophe’ (in Peter Gay’s accurate phrase). But there is another side to Freud – unfortunately less widely known – for in the later works he develops a subtle and complex theory of society, in which religion plays a much more positive – even vital – role. Seen from this perspective, religion may be regarded as necessary for our psychological well-being – even for the survival of human kind.
We will explore a range of psychoanalytic interpretations of religion, examining different views of its function and significance in the lives of human beings.
Suitable for
18+
Admission
Full price £70
Friend of the Museum £65
Student £60
Student Friend of the Museum £50
(Memberships and valid student IDs must be shown on the door)
Website
https://www.freud.org.uk/event/psychoanalysis-and-religion/#
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