Freud anthropology and psychological analysis of the roots, nature and functions of religion

Žarko, Trebješanin

Kultura

140

173

189

0023-5164

10.5937/kultura1340173T

http://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?query=ISSID%26and%2611594&page=0&so...

2013-2021/06/18/11:23:55

Freud's understanding of human nature is 'pessimistic'; he emphasizes the dominance of the irrational, instinctive and unconscious motives over rational, conscious and moral. The man is a tragic and split creature within himself, with an intense conflict between the conscious and the unconscious, the instinctive and the spiritual, the pleasure principle and the reality principle. He is a creature prone to self-deception and one of the biggest self-deceptions and illusions is - religion. The creator of psychoanalysis seeks to systematically demystify its origin, substance, its social and psychological function in his in-depth critique of religion. The origins of religion lie in the response of feelings of guilt and remorse, as a result of the murder of the primal father. God is the idealized infantile omnipotent father figure, who protects rewards and punishes, while the comfort of religion is a collective illusion, a response to feelings of helplessness. This consolation is pleasant, but not real, says Freud. Careful study and analysis of the texts of letters of the first psychoanalyst, as well as testimonies of his closest associates, reveal that this uncompromising atheist has his own religion - Science, and that his hidden God is - Logos.