David Bakan
| David Bakan | |
|---|---|
| Organization details | |
| Type | Psychologist |
| Orientation | Freudian-influenced |
| Operations | |
| Headquarters | Toronto, Canada |
| Geographic scope | Academic |
| Publications | Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition |
David Bakan (April 23, 1921 – October 18, 2004) was an American psychologist whose work bridged psychology, psychoanalysis, religion, and philosophy.[1][2] He is best known for pioneering the application of Bayesian statistics in psychological research and for exploring the mystical roots of Freudian theory in Jewish traditions such as the Kabbalah and the Zohar.[1][2]
Bakan's scholarship on psychoanalysis emphasized its intersections with Jewish mysticism, influencing discussions on the cultural origins of Freudian concepts.[3] His introduction of the psychological dimensions of agency and communion in The Duality of Human Existence (1966) advanced the psychology of religion and introspection.[1][2]
Biography
Bakan was born in New York City on April 23, 1921.[1] He attended Brooklyn College before earning his PhD in 1948 from Ohio State University in aviation psychology under Floyd Carlton Dockeray.[1] From 1961, he held academic positions at the University of Chicago, Ohio State University, Harvard University, and York University in Toronto, Canada, where he served as professor emeritus after retiring in 1991.[1][2]
He married Mildred ("Millie") Blynn, a philosophy professor at York University, in 1948; they had six children.[1]
Bakan died on October 18, 2004, at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto at age 83.[1]
Career
Bakan significantly influenced psychological research methodology, advocating Bayesian statistics over traditional significance testing as early as 1953.[1] He co-founded Division 26 (History of Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and served as its president from 1970 to 1971.[1]
His interdisciplinary work addressed psychoanalysis, religion, philosophy, child abuse, and research methods.[1][2]
Psychoanalytic Contributions
In Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition (1958), Bakan traced psychoanalytic concepts to Kabbalistic sources, including the Zohar and Talmudic interpretations, noting parallels in dreams, sexuality, and symbolism.[1][2][3] He argued that Freud subtly embedded Jewish mystical elements in his work, possibly influenced by figures like Shabbatai Tzvi, amid cultural antisemitism.[3]
Bakan viewed psychoanalysis as a modern form of rational mysticism, linking free association to meditative practices.[4]
Key Publications
- Sigmund Freud and the Jewish Mystical Tradition (1958)[1]
- The Duality of Human Existence: An Essay on Psychology and Religion (1966)[1][2]
- On Method: Toward a Reconstruction of Psychological Investigation (1967)[1]
- Disease, Pain, and Sacrifice: Toward a Psychology of Suffering (1968)[1]
- Slaughter of the Innocents: A Study of the Battered Child Phenomenon (1971)[1]
- And They Took Themselves Wives: The Emergence of Patriarchy in Western Civilization (1979)[1]
- Maimonides on Prophecy (1991)[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 1.18 "David Bakan - Wikipedia". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 "Bakan, David". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
{{cite web}}: Text "Encyclopedia.com" ignored (help) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Therapy Was Never Secular - Jewish Currents". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
- ↑ "David Bakan". Retrieved 2026-01-31.
{{cite web}}: Text "psychologist - Britannica" ignored (help)