Difference between revisions of "Religion"
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{{Top}}religious|religion{{Bottom}} | {{Top}}religious|religion{{Bottom}} | ||
| − | + | ==Sigmund Freud== | |
[[Freud]] renounced the [[Jewish]] [[religion]] of his parents -- though not his [[Jewish]] [[identity]] -- and considered himself an [[atheist]]. | [[Freud]] renounced the [[Jewish]] [[religion]] of his parents -- though not his [[Jewish]] [[identity]] -- and considered himself an [[atheist]]. | ||
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[[Freud]] thought that all [[religions]] were barriers to [[cultural]] [[progress]], and thus argued that they should be abandoned in favor of [[science]]. | [[Freud]] thought that all [[religions]] were barriers to [[cultural]] [[progress]], and thus argued that they should be abandoned in favor of [[science]]. | ||
| − | + | ==Reality and Delusion== | |
[[Freud]] argued that [[religion]]s were an attempt to protect oneself against [[suffering]] by "a delusional remoulding of reality," and thus concluded that they "must be classed among the mass-delusions" of humankind.<ref>{{F}} ''[[Civilization and Its Discontents]]''. 1930. [[SE]] XXI. p. 81</ref> | [[Freud]] argued that [[religion]]s were an attempt to protect oneself against [[suffering]] by "a delusional remoulding of reality," and thus concluded that they "must be classed among the mass-delusions" of humankind.<ref>{{F}} ''[[Civilization and Its Discontents]]''. 1930. [[SE]] XXI. p. 81</ref> | ||
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[[Freud]] described [[religion]] as a "universal obsessional neurosis."<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Obsessiove Actions and Religious Practices]]." 1907. [[SE]] IX, 116.</ref> | [[Freud]] described [[religion]] as a "universal obsessional neurosis."<ref>{{F}} "[[Works of Sigmund Freud|Obsessiove Actions and Religious Practices]]." 1907. [[SE]] IX, 116.</ref> | ||
| − | + | ==Jacques Lacan== | |
[[Jacques Lacan]] also considers himself an [[atheist]], having renounced the [[Catholic]] [[religion]] of his parents. | [[Jacques Lacan]] also considers himself an [[atheist]], having renounced the [[Catholic]] [[religion]] of his parents. | ||
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[[Lacan]] states that the true formula of [[atheism]] is not ''God is dead'' but ''God is unconscious''.<ref>{{S11}} p. 59</ref> | [[Lacan]] states that the true formula of [[atheism]] is not ''God is dead'' but ''God is unconscious''.<ref>{{S11}} p. 59</ref> | ||
| − | + | ==Examples== | |
[[Lacan]]'s discourse abounds in [[metaphor]]s drawn from [[Christian]] [[theology]]. | [[Lacan]]'s discourse abounds in [[metaphor]]s drawn from [[Christian]] [[theology]]. | ||
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In the seminar of 1972-3, [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[religion|God]]" as a [[metaphor]] for the [[Other|big Other]], and compares [[woman|feminine]] ''[[jouissance]]'' to the ecstacy experienced by Christian mystics such as St Teresa of Avila.<ref>{{S20}} p.70-1</ref> | In the seminar of 1972-3, [[Lacan]] uses the term "[[religion|God]]" as a [[metaphor]] for the [[Other|big Other]], and compares [[woman|feminine]] ''[[jouissance]]'' to the ecstacy experienced by Christian mystics such as St Teresa of Avila.<ref>{{S20}} p.70-1</ref> | ||
| − | + | ==See Also== | |
{{See}} | {{See}} | ||
{{Also}} | {{Also}} | ||
| − | + | ==References== | |
<div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"> | <div style="font-size:11px" class="references-small"> | ||
<references/> | <references/> | ||
Revision as of 02:35, 26 November 2006
| French: religion |
Sigmund Freud
Freud renounced the Jewish religion of his parents -- though not his Jewish identity -- and considered himself an atheist.
Freud regarded monotheistic forms of religion as the sign of a highly developed state of civilization.
Freud thought that all religions were barriers to cultural progress, and thus argued that they should be abandoned in favor of science.
Reality and Delusion
Freud argued that religions were an attempt to protect oneself against suffering by "a delusional remoulding of reality," and thus concluded that they "must be classed among the mass-delusions" of humankind.[1]
Freud saw the idea of God as an expression of an infantile longing for a protective father.[2]
Freud described religion as a "universal obsessional neurosis."[3]
Jacques Lacan
Jacques Lacan also considers himself an atheist, having renounced the Catholic religion of his parents.
Like Freud he opposes religion to science, and aligns psychoanalysis with the latter.[4]
Lacan states that the true formula of atheism is not God is dead but God is unconscious.[5]
Examples
Lacan's discourse abounds in metaphors drawn from Christian theology.
The most obvious example is surely the phrase the Name-of-the-Father, which Lacan adopts to denote a fundamental signifier whose foreclosure leads to psychosis.
The changes wrought by the symbolic are described in creationist rather than evolutionary terms.
In the seminar of 1972-3, Lacan uses the term "God" as a metaphor for the big Other, and compares feminine jouissance to the ecstacy experienced by Christian mystics such as St Teresa of Avila.[6]
See Also
References
- ↑ Freud, Sigmund. Civilization and Its Discontents. 1930. SE XXI. p. 81
- ↑ Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. 1927. SE XXI, 3.
- ↑ Freud, Sigmund. "Obsessiove Actions and Religious Practices." 1907. SE IX, 116.
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p. 265
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. The Seminar. Book XI. The Four Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, 1964. Trans. Alan Sheridan. London: Hogarth Press and Institute of Psycho-Analysis, 1977. p. 59
- ↑ Lacan, Jacques. Le Séminaire. Livre XX. Encore, 1972-73. Ed. Jacques-Alain Miller. Paris: Seuil, 1975. p.70-1
