Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Jordan Scott - Freud reading

What does the common man understand by his religion? Freud tries to figure out what it is that so much of the population holds onto and is connected by -- something he has never felt the pull or allure of. He says that on the one hand religion explains the world to man with 'enviable completeness' or basically tells him the meaning of his existence on this earth during this time. Simultaneously, by buying into religion, man is assured to be watched over by some higher power, and will compensate him wherever his soul goes next depending on the life he lived on earth. I notice that Freud always uses 'him' and not 'her' or just a gender neutral description of humans that live religiously -- coming back to feminism, of course. I think that Freud's brilliance in science and philosophy and thought is what hinders him from understanding what he so desperately wants to learn - which is how the majority of the world thinks and lives and why they do what they do. Being unable to relate to something so universal and timeless like religion, must have been a real challenge for him.

1 comment:

  1. Notice that things you are noting in Freud are describing conceptual features of religion, not the psychosomatic level of religion, as Freud puts it. I don't think Freud sees it from that level.

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