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Theme 2 Philosophy of
Religion
Challenges to religious belief
Religious belief as a product of the human mind – booklet 3
Religious belief as a product of the human mind – Sigmund
Freud:
Religion as an illusion and/or a neurosis with reference to
collective neurosis; primal horde; Oedipus complex; wish
fulfilment and reaction against helplessness.
Supportive evidence including reference to redirection of
guilt complexes and reference to instinctive desires deriving
from evolutionary basis (Charles Darwin).
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Challenges including lack of anthropological evidence for
primal horde; no firm psychological evidence for universal
Oedipus complex; evidence basis too narrow.
Freud: the unconscious
The human mind
creates beliefs and
images to satisfy basic
longings
These beliefs are
created in our
unconscious mind
The unconscious mind:
Is, the part of the mind we cannot
always access
We hold many of our unwanted
thoughts in our unconscious mind
i.e. Guilt, shame, trauma and
desires
Defence mechanisms:
We use forms of defence mechanisms to
protect ourselves psychologically
This creates an inner conflict, which then
causes neurosis (anxiety)
We need to overcome this inner conflict
Psychological conflict is within ourselves,
So, religion is seen as a collective
neurosis (anxiety caused by
unconscious thoughts)
•Helplessness and fear of natural forces
•God thus becomes a:
•“Projected Father figure”
•We need him as a source of protection,
but also as a source of fear and guilt
So, we create the illusion
of God and religion to
help us deal with the
problems in our
unconscious mind
So believing in God is a
form of:
“wish fulfilment”
•
Q. Why does this happen?
Because…people look for meaning in life
Difficult to accept death will come
So it’s comforting to believe there is an after life
Freud suggests the illusion of religion is no better than
creating an imaginary friend
A collective neurosis is a neurotic illness that afflicts all
people
So, religious behaviour i.e. going to church is like a form
of mass hysteria
Applying some of Freud’s concepts:
The libido:
• is our unconscious sexual drive
• It forms our basic urges such as sex, satisfaction and
gratification
• Problems arise in childhood where the child
(especially males) forms a deep bond with their
mothers
• Problems develop later due to guilt and fear of the
Father
Primal hordes
The theory is based on the principle of: “primal hordes”
Based on “Darwinism”
These were groups of people/societies based around a single dominant
male
He had dominance over the group and priority over all the females
Like the modern day-alpha male
Over time- younger members of the horde would have resentment
towards him
When older, they would group together to kill him
The relationship is ambivalent (love/hate)
We know this concept affected some early human societies
Animism:
• When suffering from extreme guilt
• People create idols (totems)
• Totems were often natural phenomena i.e.
animals, rocks and trees, which were perceived as
divine entities
• The unconscious mind can project the feelings of
guilt onto the idol (or the totem)
Animism cont..
• Eventually, when the idea of totems became unsatisfactory
• Totems were transformed into gods of religions
• An example of this is the Christian God
• He is worshiped in the same way as the totems were-with
reverence but also fear
Freud, part 2: Oedipus complex
• Oedipus complex
Freud Test
• 1. What is a neurosis?
• 2. What is stored in the unconscious mind?
• 3. What is a primal horde?
• 4. What crime did the primal horde commit?
• 5. How did they deal with their guilt?
• 6. What is a totem?
• 7. What is the ‘religious phase’?
• 8. Briefly explain the Oedipus Complex.
• 9.What did Freud believe humans were scared of?
The relevance of Oedipus complex
So, the Oedipus complex is a sexual trauma caused by guilt
Freud’s belief is that the guilt has some how been genetically
passed on to modern societies
Q: But- how does this explain away religion or religious
behaviour?
Supportive evidence including reference to redirection of guilt complexes
and reference to instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis (Charles
Darwin).
• Instinctive desires deriving from evolutionary basis
Evolution – natural selection
Redirection of guilt complexes – Freud’s case studie
• http://www.simplypsychology.org/little-hans.html
• https://www.psychologistworld.com/freud/little-hans-freud-case.php
Research:
There have been studies that aim to compare the perceptions of God
to perceptions of parents (Father figure)
Hertel & Donahue (1995) found that God was seen as a loving Father,
especially with girls; (this relates to the image of the father in the
family)
Ullman (1982) found a link between absent Fathers and children who
later convert to Christianity
These studies support the concept of God as a “projected Father
figure”
See handout on study by Carroll (1983) next slide
Carroll (1983)
Found that visions of the Virgin
Mary are more common in cultural
areas where Fathers tend to be
absent
These visions are also far more
common among the celibate or
unmarried
Creating the assumption they are
sexually frustrated
This study supports the idea of
God as a projected Father figure
• All the above research appears to support Freud’s explanation of
religion and religious behaviour as it illustrates the role of the
unconscious mind as the source of the religious beliefs
Essay planning – three possible questions to
plan
Explain Freud’s ideas about religion. – Done
Explain the evidence used to support Freud’s ideas about religion – Done
Explain the challenges to Freud’s ideas about religion – see next slide
Explain the challenges to Freud’s ideas about
religion
Freud was . . .
1. Freud claimed .. Primal hordes .. Challenged by . . .
2. Freud stated … Dominate male… Challenges by
3. Freud believed religion was due to… Oedipus … Challenged by
4. Freud saw religion as a negative … Challenged by . . .
Freud’s conclusion:
In his follow up writing:
The future of an illusion; Freud (1927) concludes:
“If men are taught that there is no almighty and all just God,
no divine order and no future life, they will feel exempt from
obligation to obey the precepts of civilisation. Everyone will
follow his asocial instincts… and chaos will come again.”
Activity: What do you think Freud means by this? Write down
in your own words
In pairs – listen to each song and explain the
link to Freud’s theory of religion.
• song 1
• Song 2
• Song 3
• Song 4