God, Freud and Religion
The origins of faith, fear and fundamentalism
By Dianna T. Kenny
Routledge – 2015 – 224 pages
Description
Did God create man or did man create God? In this book, Dianna Kenny examines religious belief through a variety of perspectives – psychoanalytic, cognitive, neuropsychological, sociological, historical and psychiatric – to provide a coherent account of why people might believe in God. She argues that psychoanalytic theory provides a fertile and creative approach to the study of religion that attempts to integrate religious belief with our innate human nature and developmental histories that have unfolded in the context of our socialization and cultural experiences. Freud argued that religion is so compelling because it solves the problems of our existence. It explains the origin of the universe, offers solace and protection from evil, and provides a blueprint about how we should live our lives, with just rewards for the righteous and due punishments for sinners and transgressors. Science, on the other hand, offers no such explanations about the universe or the meaning of our lives and no comfort for the unanswered longings of the human race.
Is religion a form of wish-fulfilment, a collective delusion to which we cling as we try to fathom our place and purpose in the drama of cosmology? Can there be morality without faith? Are science and religion radically incompatible? What are the roots of fundamentalism and terror theology?
These are some of the questions addressed in God, Freud and Religion, a book thatwill be of interest to psychoanalysts, psychologists and psychotherapists, students ofpsychology, psychoanalysis, philosophy and theology and all those with an interestin religion and human behaviour.
Dianna Kenny is Professor of Psychology at the University of Sydney, Australia.She is the author of over 200 publications, including six books.
Reviews
Does God exist? Was Freud right to view religion as a residue of infantile wish-fulfillment? Can modern science and spirituality be reconciled? Not afraid to tackle the big questions, Kenny’s prodigious combination of clarity and scholarship are exceptional. If Freud is the Bach of modern psychology, reading her – uniquely a Professor of Music as well as Psychology – is to encounter classic psychoanalytic scores interpreted in the light of contemporary understanding. A must-read for all students of psychoanalysis, psychology, philosophy and religion, and all who seek illumination in a post-modern world of chaos and confusion. - Professor Jeremy Holmes MD FRCPsych University of Exeter, UK
This a remarkable work of analysis and integration of perspectives. Dianna Kenny addresses crucial questions: can science and religion pull together as a team instead of pulling apart? Should we blame religious fanatics or religion itself for violence?
Does religion have a monopoly on values?
The author canvassers questions of faith, extremism and violence in Christian and Islamic religions in particular and evokes parallels with nationalistic ideologies and dictatorial regimes from earlier and more recent history.
This work should help us understand how fundamentalist beliefs are formed and why they are difficult to modify, and how religious beliefs can be employed in the service of perverting human nature for political and other secular purposes.
Professor Kenney’s discussion the formation of fundamentalist beliefs should contribute towards understanding some of the underlying roots of current conflicts, for example in the Middle East, and can help towards conflict resolution and peace in our troubled world. As such it is particularly timely. - Ahmad Shboul AM, Former Chair of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, The University of Sydney
Religious fundamentalism—what Kenny aptly characterizes as terror theology-- has been a major source of violence, both large scale and small, over the course of human history. The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the "holy" crusades are just two of a multitude of examples of atrocity committed in the name of God. Thus Kenny’s penetrating, exhaustive, multidisciplinary examination of the genesis of religious belief and how it has been exploited for political purposes is no mere academic exercise. It is an attempt to locate significant roots of what philosopher Hannah Arendt aptly terms radical evil. - Robert D. Stolorow, PhD, author, World, Affectivity, Trauma: Heidegger and Post-Cartesian Psychoanalysis (Routledge, 2011)
Contents
Dedication. Acknowledgements. Preface. Foreword. Science, God and Religion. Does God Exist? The Common Origins in Human Nature of Taboos, Conscience, Neurosis and Religion. The Origin and Meaning of Totems and Religion. Freud, Religion, Culture and Philosophy. Freud, the Demonic, Madness, and the Fanciful. Critiques of Freud’s Theory on Religion.
Group Psychology and the Psychoanalysis of Violence. Terror Theology and Fundamentalism. Conclusions and a Cautionary Tale. References.
Name: God, Freud and Religion: The origins of faith, fear and fundamentalism (Paperback) – Routledge
Description: By Dianna T. Kenny.
Did God create man or did man create God? In this book, Dianna Kenny examines religious belief through a variety of perspectives – psychoanalytic, cognitive, neuropsychological, sociological, historical and psychiatric – to provide a...
Categories: Freud, Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy, Religion, Philosophy of Religion, Developmental Psychology