Theme 2 Philosophy of Religion Challenges to religious belief Religious belief as a product of the human mind – booklet 3

Religious belief as a product of the human mind – Sigmund Freud: Religion as an illusion and/or a neurosis with reference to collective neurosis; primal horde; Oedipus complex; wish fulfilment and reaction against helplessness. Supportive evidence including reference to redirection of guilt complexes and reference to instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis (Charles Darwin). Challenges including lack of anthropological evidence for primal horde; no firm psychological evidence for universal Oedipus complex; evidence basis too narrow. c

RELIGION AND PSYCHOLOGY Psychology - the scientific study of the human mind Religion - the God of Classical Theism is the creator of the world. Psychology leads to a different conclusion- God is a construct of the mind Psychologists ask not, “Does God exist?” but “Why are people religious?” Religious belief can be explained without requiring God. RELIGION AND PSYCHOLOGY

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) These two men knew each other, and in fact Jung had been a follower of Freud. They shared many theories in common. They both, for instance, believed that the human mind contained ‘unconscious material’ , of which we are mostly unaware on a day-to-day basis, and they were interested to explain why human beings are religious.

Reductive and non-reductive explanations for religion REDUCTIVE EXPLANATIONS: Some explanations of why people might be religious try to show why humans engage in such meaningless activity which has no basis in reality. These explanations describe religion as a function or product of the human mind. NON-REDUCTIVE: Say that people are religious as a result of revelation, religious experience and enlightenment. Although religious people may accept that the mind plays a part in religion, they would be unlikely to accept that religion can be ‘explained away’ simply in terms of how the human mind works.

Both reductionist but very different! Despite their close working relationship, Freud and Jung came to disagree with each other profoundly on certain issues, including the question of whether or not religion was ‘a good thing’, and they finally went their separate ways. Both Freud and Jung (to some extent) gave reductive explanations of religion, but in different ways. For Freud religion was an illusion and it was neurosis For Jung the source of religion was in the human unconscious, but this did not mean that religion was an illusion or that a greater power was not involved in the source of this religion Therefore, Freud is much more clearly reductionist than Jung. Freud’s thought is given the label of Psychoanalysis and Jung’s is called Analytical Psychology

Sigmund Freud (The Father of Modern Psychology) (1856 - 1939) Born into Secular Jewish family (a Jew but by culture only – an atheist). Studied in Vienna – specialised in neurology 1886 opened a medical practice. Developed treatment of psychoanalysis. He has a peaceful family life with wife and six children, despite being a neurotic and obsessive character. Much of his work burned by the Nazis as it went against their thoughts that insane people were impure – Freud believed they could be treated and disagreed with the T4 programme (Nazi euthanasia for mentally and physically disabled) Said memories locked away in the unconscious mind can later surface as neurosis

Religious belief as a product of the human mind The human mind creates beliefs and images to satisfy basic longings These beliefs are created in our unconscious mind

The unconscious mind: Is, the part of the mind we cannot always access We hold many of our unwanted thoughts in our unconscious mind i.e. Guilt, shame, trauma and desires

Defence mechanisms: We use forms of defence mechanisms to protect ourselves psychologically This creates an inner conflict, which then causes neurosis (anxiety) We need to overcome this inner conflict

Psychological conflict is within ourselves, So, religion is seen as a collective neurosis (anxiety caused by unconscious thoughts) Helplessness and fear of natural forces God thus becomes a: “Projected Father figure” We need him as a source of protection, but also as a source of fear and guilt

So, we create the illusion of God and religion to help us deal with the problems in our unconscious mind So believing in God is a form of: “wish fulfilment”

Why does this happen? Because…people look for meaning in life Difficult to accept death will come So it’s comforting to believe there is an after life Freud suggests the illusion of religion is no better than creating an imaginary friend A collective neurosis is a neurotic illness that afflicts all people So, religious behaviour i.e. going to church is like a form of mass hysteria

Applying some of Freud’s concepts: The libido: is our unconscious sexual drive It forms our basic urges such as sex, satisfaction and gratification Problems arise in childhood where the child (especially males) forms a deep bond with their mothers Problems develop later due to guilt and fear of the Father

Religion as an illusion and/or neurosis; Primal hordes The theory is based on the principle of: “primal hordes” Based on “Darwinism” These were groups of people/societies based around a single dominant male – the alpha male He had dominance over the group and priority over all the females Over time- younger members of the horde would have resentment towards him When older, they would group together to kill him The relationship is ambivalent (love/hate) Freud believed this concept affected early human societies

Animism: When suffering from extreme guilt People create idols (totems) Totems were often natural phenomena i.e. animals, rocks and trees, which were perceived as divine entities The unconscious mind can project the feelings of guilt onto the idol (or the totem)

Animism cont.. Eventually, when the idea of totems became unsatisfactory Totems were transformed into gods of religions An example of this is the Christian God He is worshiped in the same way as the totems were-with reverence but also fear

Freud, part 2: Oedipus complex

Starter – w/b 4.12.17 Freud Test on DIL 1. What is a neurosis? 2. What is stored in the unconscious mind? 3. What is a primal horde? 4. What crime did the primal horde commit? 5. How did they deal with their guilt? 6. What is a totem? 7. What is the ‘religious phase’? 8. Briefly explain the Oedipus Complex. 9.What did Freud believe humans were scared of?

The relevance of Oedipus complex So, the Oedipus complex is a sexual trauma caused by guilt Freud’s belief is that the guilt has some how been genetically passed on to modern societies Q: But- how does this explain away religion or religious behaviour?

Instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis Supportive evidence including reference to redirection of guilt complexes and reference to instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis (Charles Darwin). Instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis Evolution – natural selection Darwin – high sexual drive passed on genetically Redirection of guilt complexes – Freud’s case studies http://www.simplypsychology.org/little- hans.html https://www.psychologistworld.com/freud/little- hans-freud-case.php Brown (1965) examined the case of Little Hans in detail and provided support for Freud's interpretation – use website above to complete task 16

Research: There have been studies that aim to compare the perceptions of God to perceptions of parents (Father figure) Hertel & Donahue (1995) found that God was seen as a loving Father, especially with girls; (this relates to the image of the father in the family) Ullman (1982) found a link between absent Fathers and children who later convert to Christianity These studies support the concept of God as a “projected Father figure” See study by Carroll (1983) next slide

Carroll (1983) Found that visions of the Virgin Mary are more common in cultural areas where Fathers tend to be absent These visions are also far more common among the celibate or unmarried Creating the assumption they are sexually frustrated This study supports the idea of God as a projected Father figure

All the above research appears to support Freud’s explanation of religion and religious behaviour as it illustrates the role of the unconscious mind as the source of the religious beliefs

Explain the challenges to Freud’s ideas about religion Freud’s ideas can be challenged and many have been rejected. . . Freud claimed .. Primal hordes .. Challenged by . . . Freud stated … Dominate male… Challenges by Freud believed religion was due to… Oedipus … Challenged by Freud saw religion as a negative … Challenged by . . .

Challenges to Freud “Almost all the evidence that Freud presents has been discredited in one way or another” (Palmer in Freud and Jung on Religion)

Freud’s conclusion: In his follow up writing: The future of an illusion; Freud (1927) concludes: “If men are taught that there is no almighty and all just God, no divine order and no future life, they will feel exempt from obligation to obey the precepts of civilisation. Everyone will follow his asocial instincts… and chaos will come again.” Activity: What do you think Freud means by this? Write down in your own words

Essay planning – three possible questions to plan Explain Freud’s ideas about religion. – Done Explain the evidence used to support Freud’s ideas about religion – Done Explain the challenges to Freud’s ideas about religion – Done All summarised on the A3 sheet

In pairs – listen to each song and explain the link to Freud’s theory of religion.