Freud and Jung on Religion

Michael Palmer provides a detailed account of the theories of religion of both Freud and Jung and sets them side by side for the first time In the first section of the text Dr Palmer analyses Freud's claim that religion is an obsessional neurosis - a psychological illness fuelled by sexual repression. The second section considers Jung's rejection of Freud's theory and his own assertion that it is the absence of religion, not its presence, which leads to neurosis. Freud and Jung on Religion is suitable for general and specialist reader alike, as it assumes no prior knowledge of the theories of Freud or Jung and is an invaluable teaching text.

Table of Contents:
Foreword Part I Sigmund Freud: psychoanalysis and religion1 INTRODUCTION 2 TOTEM AND TABOO 3 RELIGION AND ILLUSION4 FORMS OF RELIGIOUS NEUROSIS 5 A CRITICAL APPRAISAL Part II Carl Gustav Jung: analytical psychology and religion 6 INTRODUCTION 7 THE STRUCTURE OF THE PSYCHE 8 GOD AS ARCHETYPE OF THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS 9 GOD AND INDIVIDUATION 10 A CRITICAL APPRAISAL

About the Author :
Michael Palmer is Academic Tutor in the School of Theology at Westminster College, Oxford. A former Teaching Fellow at McMaster and Humboldt Fellow at Marburg, he was for many years Head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Manchester Grammar School. Dr Palmer is the author of Paul Tillich’s Philosophy of Art (1984), Moral Problems (1991) and co-editor of the six-volumed Paul Tillich: Main Works (1988–1992).

Review :
'The complex relationship between Freud and Jung and particularly their eventual disagreement over religion, are delineated in Michael Palmer's valuable study . . .Palmer's analysis sharpens the debate over the contribution to our understanding of Freud and Jung on religion and , if for no other reason, deserves to be read, discussed and debated further.' - Bulletin of The British Association for the Study of Religion 'Palmer focuses on the psychologies of religion put forward by Freud and Jung, and manages two considerable feats. The first is that of marshalling Freud's thought in such a way that its roots in his life, adn its continuities as well as discontinuities, are all understandable. The second feat is the greater: that of presenting Jung's thought clearly and coherently . . . Having attempted to introduce Freud and Jung to undergraduate and postgraduate students of the psychology of religion for the past eighteen years, I welcome Michael Palmer's book as a valuable resource for the future, both for clarifying my own thinking and for leading students to a firm grasp of the ideas discussed by these two key figures' - Scottish Journal of Religious Studies 'This book should become required reading or all theologians, especially those concerned with the theory and practice of pastoral care, because it offers a readable and insightful account of two of the most important and influencial theories of religion by Freud and Jung. The book is well organized with detailed bibliography and comprehensive and usable index.' - Religion and Theology