God is an illusion and the result of wish fulfilment Flashcards
1
Q
sigmund freud book
A
- the future of an illusion
2
Q
freud
A
- religious n modern religious beliefs r a delusion that exist to protect us from nature n fate
- it provides info that humans crave about things that cannot be discovered via a study of reality
- he assosiates ocd w religous practices
- they stem from inner feeling of repressed disorder n anxiety
- so both=defence mechanism against anxiety
- religion stems from childhood ideasl of wanting a father figure
- very influential as one of first to think of future of religion- atheist society
- saw religion as dangerous to society
- ‘obsessive actions and religious practices’
3
Q
ottto rank
A
- student of freud
- theory of death causes ppl to follow religion
4
Q
civilisation n its discontents
A
- ‘the religions of mankind must be classed as amongst the mass delusions’
5
Q
freud concerned on psychological impact that religion has on mind
A
- saw religion was produced by anxiety about things beyond r control, so we
6
Q
augueste comte
A
- held the view that civilised society develops from the theological to the metaphysical to the positive (scientific)
- he believed religion would give way to secular positivism and society would be rid of false world views
- religion is regarded as harmful and even dangerous for individuals and civilised society
7
Q
religion as wish fulfilment
A
- a doctor had a religious experience where he saw an old woman in a dissecting room
- he lost his faith n regained it in a conversion experience
- doctor wanted to persuade freud to rethink his atheism
- god hadnt shown himself to freud, nor answered any of his prayers, so he had no good reason to believe
freud’s analysis of the man’s experience showed a classic example of an oedipus complex - following conversion was a wish fulfilment to restore his childhood sense of security n can be explained in psychoanalytical rational terms
8
Q
religion as infantile illusion
A
- ‘future of an illusion’ f argues religion has been most powerful means of overcoming fears of death n suffering
- religion=comfort against ‘terror of nature’
- same as kids find comfort in discipline n order in lives from parents
- continues process via ‘suppression, the renunciation of certain instinctual impulses’
- accepts worshippers guilt n asks for forgiveness
- =obsessional bc keeps ego from being controlled by sexual urges
- he concludes its a ‘universal obsessional neurosis’
- repression of basic urges=replace by promises of afterlife n rewards/punishment
- =illusory n device to ward off fear
- religion may do good- in order for society to grow n develop rationally, religion needs to be abolished
- hes optimistic it will happen
- the illusion is to think that religion is the source of true happiness
9
Q
critique of freud
A
- he was a reudctionist- keith ward= reductionism=inadequate expl for vast amount of religous n spirtual exp
- hes not as scientific as he thinks despite his suspicion of religion which stops human development, there is evidence to suggest he wasn’t wholly critical of it
- he doesnt reject validity his friends oceanic exp even tho he himself hadnt felt it
10
Q
critique of freud
truth claims
A
- he may be right that some aspects of religion are neurotic and obsessive, there are states of the mind and they do not in themselves disprove religious truth claims.
11
Q
critique of freud
religion is enabling
A
he argues religion is an obsessional n infantile illusion which cut a person off from the real world.
this may be true for some but for others it is enabling, giving deeper appreciation for life n helps to form communities with shared values and a sense of purpose.
12
Q
critique of freud
guilt
A
freud is right to illustrate how religion cause be a cause and perpetuation of guilt and we should be wary to warn against deeply controlling religious traditions, but not all religion is controlling.
many religious traditions provide a source of meaning and fulfilment which is lacking in a material existence.
13
Q
critique of freud
wish fulfilment
A
although some wish fulfilment is a source of illusion, it can also be a source of creativeness and fuel the imagination.
14
Q
dawkins:
indoctrination of children
A
- religions something that everyone needs to escape from
- hes concerned about how kids r ‘hijacked by religous faith’ causing them harm
- he uses extreme examples to illustrate his point in his book ‘the god delusion’ such as sex abuse, irish nunneries n kidnapping n forced baptism
- he argues kids before age of consent, being considered religous eg to enter some schools=form of long term psychological abuse
- he quotes nicholas humprheys amnesty lecture in 1997- ‘what shall we tell the kids’ where he says ‘in short, kids have right to have their mind addled by nonsene n we as a society habe duty to prevent thme from it’
15
Q
richard dawkins
A
- religion is given disproportionate place in society
- supernaturalist n monothetic religions=cause of mental n phsyical harm
- belief in god=unfounded but bc a creator god justifies irrational n dehumanising behaviour
- as programmatic secularist, his aim= persuade all right thinking ppl god is a delusion n atheistic secularism=only plausaible alt
- in ‘god delusion’ aim is ‘intended to raise consciousness…to the fact that to be an atheist is a realistic aspiration, and a brave and splendid on’
- urges us to imagine a world w/out religion, accept god hypothesis is weak=religion=form of child abuse n accept atheism w pride
