Author: James William Jones
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300057843
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 162
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Book Description
Presents the latest psychoanalytic "theories" and their relevance for religious studies. The author, a clinical psychologist and professor of religion, builds on more recent theories in which the self is constued as a matrix of interalized relationships, investigates ways in which religious beliefs, practices, and experiences reflect the structure of the relational self.
Author: Charles Spezzano
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135060649
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 268
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Book Description
Ever since Freud put religion on the couch in "The Future of an Illusion," there has been an uneasy peace, with occasional skirmishes, between these two great disciplines of subjectivity. As prime meaning givers, God and the unconscious have vied for supremacy in our thinking about ourselves, especially our thinking about our human nature, our moral stature, and our destiny. Freud, in his bold manner, found projection, fear, and denial to be the wellspring of religion's domination over man. In analogous fashion, those giving primacy to the soul over the unconscious have long dismissed psychoanalysis as mechanistic, reductionistic, and hence inadequate to the examination of spirituality. Soul on the Couch is premised on the belief that discourse about the soul and discourse from the couch can inform, and not simply ignore, one another. It brings together scholars and psychoanalysts at the forefront of an interdisciplinary dialogue that is vitally important to the growth of both disciplines. Their essays are not only models of reflective inquiry; they also illuminate the syntheses that emerge when analysts and scholars of religion bridge the gap that has long separated them and speak to one another.
Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780300161922
Category : Psychoanalysis and religion
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
Presents the latest psychoanalytic "theories" and their relevance for religious studies. The author, a clinical psychologist and professor of religion, builds on more recent theories in which the self is constued as a matrix of interalized relationships, investigates ways in which religious beliefs, practices, and experiences reflect the structure of the relational self.
Author: James W. Jones
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300129386
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
In this thought-provoking book, clinical psychologist and professor of religious studies James W. Jones presents a dialogue between contemporary psychoanalytic thinking and contemporary theology. He sheds new light on the interaction of religion and psychology by viewing it from the perspective of world religions, providing an epistemological framework for the psychology of religion that draws on contemporary philosophy of science, and bringing out the importance of gender as a category of analysis. Developments in psychoanalysis provide new resources for theological reflection, Jones contends. The Freudian view that human nature is isolated and instinctual has shifted to a vision of the self as constituted in and through relationships. Jones uses this relational model of human nature to explore the convergence between contemporary psychoanalysis, feminist theorizing, and themes in religious thought found in a variety of traditions. He also critiques the reductionism inherent in Freud's discussion of religion and proposes nonreductionistic and genuinely psychoanalytic ways for psychoanalysis to treat religious topics. For therapists, psychologists, theologians, and others interested in spiritual or psychological issues, Jones offers illuminating clinical material and insightful analysis.
Author: Erich Fromm
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300000898
Category : Psychoanalysis
Languages : en
Pages : 127
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Book Description
Social psychologist Erich Fromm probes deep into the roots of religion to find its humanistic essence. In 1950, Erich Fromm attempted to free religion from its social function and to develop a new understanding of religious phenomena. Rather than analyzing what people believe in 'whether they're monotheistic, polytheistic, or atheistic, ' Fromm presents an idea of what religion means in secular terms. In his timeless and straightforward style, Fromm unmasks the alienating effects of any authoritarian religion. He reveals how a humanistic religion is conducive to one's own humanity, and explains why psychoanalysis does not threaten religion. Whether you're a believer or a long-time atheist, Fromm's erudite analysis of religion is sure to reshape your concept of spirituality.
Author: James W. Jones
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317763041
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 144
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Book Description
Religion has been responsible for both horrific acts against humanity and some of humanity's most sublime teachings and experiences. How is this possible? From a contemporary psychoanalytic perspective, this book seeks to answer that question in terms of the psychological dynamic of idealisation. At the heart of living religion is the idealisation of everyday objects. Such idealisations provide much of the transforming power of religious experience, which is one of the positive contributions of religion to the psychological life. However, idealisation can also lead to religious fanaticism which can be very destructive. Drawing on the work of various contemporary relational theorists within psychoanalysis, this book develops a psychoanalytically informed theory of the transforming and terror-producing effects of religious experience. It discusses the question of whether or not, if idealisation is the cause of many of the destructive acts done in the name of religion, there can be vital religion without idealisation. This is the first book to address the nature of religion and its capacity to sponsor both terrorism and transformation in terms of contemporary relational psychoanalytic theory. It will be invaluable to students and practitioners of psychoanalysis, psychotherapy, psychology and religious studies, and to others interested in the role of religion in the lives of individuals and societies.
Author: William W. Meissner
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300037517
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 280
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Book Description
In this provocative book, W. W. Meissner, a Jesuit and psychoanalyst, attempts to bring about a rapprochement between psychoanalysis and religious thinking. Utilizing the resources of modern psychoanalytic insight, he examines Freud's views on religion, explores the dialectical relationship between psychoanalysis and religion, and applies more contemporary concepts in psychoanalysis to the understanding of religious experience. Dr. Meissner has written a book which is consistently interesting, often challenging, and impressive for its wide range of scholarship in two fields not often combined in the same work...Dr. Meissner has done us a service in this scholarly work by demonstrating how two perspectives of the human condition have over the course of the last several decades come to similar conclusions.-Otto F. Thaler, M.D., Journal of the American Academy of Religion A rich and stimulating book addressing important issues that lie at the intersection of psychoanalysis and religion.-Paul C. Vitz, Contemporary Psychology Meissner has made a challenging useful contribution that will be pondered, applied, and debated.It will undoubtedly also achieve the goal of bringing about more understanding between analysts and theologians.-Lowell Rubin, M.D., Newsletter, Boston Psychoanalytic Society and Institute
Author: Suzanne R. Kirschner
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521555609
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 260
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Book Description
In this book, Suzanne Kirschner traces the origins of contemporary psychoanalysis back to the foundations of Judaeo-Christian culture, and challenges the prevailing view that modern theories of the self mark a radical break with religious and cultural tradition. Instead, she argues, they offer an account of human development which has its beginnings in biblical theology and neoplatonic mysticism. Drawing on a wide range of religious, literary, philosophical and anthropological sources, Dr Kirschner demonstrates that current Anglo-American psychoanalytic theories are but the latest version of a narrative that has been progressively secularized over the course of nearly two millennia. She displays a deep understanding of psychoanalytic theories, while at the same time raising provocative questions about their status as knowledge and as science.
Author: Martha J. Reineke
Publisher: Lexington Books
ISBN: 1498564259
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 228
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Book Description
The Birth of the Living God, her contribution to the psychoanalysis of religion. Contributors to this volume offer clinical and theoretical insights concerning Rizzuto’s examination of the origin of God representations in early childhood and their elaboration across the life cycle.
Author: Marsha Aileen Hewitt
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317545915
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Freud argued that religions originate in the unconscious needs, longings and fantasies of human minds. His work has served to highlight how any analysis of religion must explore mental life, both the cognitive and the unconscious. 'Freud on Religion' examines Freud's complex understanding of religious belief and practice. The book brings together contemporary psychoanalytic theory and case material from Freud's clinical practice to illustrate how the operations of the unconscious mind support various forms of religious belief, from mainstream to occult. 'Freud on Religion' offers a new way of understanding Freud's thinking and demonstrates how valuable psychoanalysis is for the study of religion.
