The subject on the relationship of science and religion has been controversial for many years. Many philosophers and scholars have tried to show the link and disparities between these two subjects in various ways. Sigmund Freud is one of the scholars who tried to show how religion and science differ. Freud offers opposing views on the need for people to adopt religion in modern times. The paper analyses his views and thoughts on the value of religion and science in the society (Jacobs, 2003).

Sigmund Freud wrote The Future of an Illusion in 1972 where he analyzed religion in terms of psychoanalytic perspective. In this piece, Freud cites religion as an illusion which means it is a belief that is based on personal wish and desires. He argues that illusions are not untrue, but they are only based on wish, and projected to fulfil a personal necessity. Freud emphasizes that religion equals illusion by stating, “It would be very nice if there were a God who created the world and was a benevolent providence, and if there were a moral order in the universe and an after-life; but it is a very striking fact that all this is exactly as we are bound to wish it to be.” Through this declaration, Freud argues that religion is a creation of human beings unconscious desire to seek protection, guiding figure, and also as a social paradigm aimed at controlling the destructive constitutions that have the potential to make a civilized society unstable. Freud says that such behaviours like incest and cannibalism are curbed by religion because it is a guiding model (Freud, 2012).

Freud viewed religion in the same way a child looks up to his/her father because of a sense of weakness and helplessness that comes in living in a dangerous and uncaring society. He cites that religious ideas are based on wishes and seeking comfort from a higher being that is created in the human mind. According to Freud, religion came about as human beings created the idea of a divine being to seek solace and protection from a cruel world. He argues that it is just an illusion that should have no place in the society because it is bound to wear down with time. He sees religion as an obsession and creation of the human mind that he believes would be eroded in the future through advancement of science achievements (Ross, 2001, p. 267)

Freud further claims that the existence of a powerful divine being makes one of the oldest and most powerful wishes of human race. He declares that this wishful nature created by religion blurs people from reality. Even though he claims that religion has assisted in human development, he denies its truth by citing that it has failed to bring satisfaction for the past thousands of years. Freud claims that natural science had identified errors in religious manuscripts and documents, which decreases its influence on people(Ross, 2001, p. 267). Freud argued against the argument that religion builds strong structures in the society and supported the idea of embracing science as it offers knowledge as well as power to solve problems.In the work Totem and Taboo, Freud also cites people using myths such as sacrifices to feel better about the activities they undertake that may appear immoral (Palmer, 2003, p. 18).

Freud arguments lean on the support for science in favour of religion. Through his work in the Civilization and its Discontents, Freud argues that religion is childish and devoid of reality. However, he advocates for science as it offers knowledge and understanding of the world with open ideas and concepts. He believes that science follows a system of investigation and observation to generate results with evidence. Freud takes offense with religion because he claims “The whole thing is so patently infantile, so foreign to reality, that to anyone with a friendly attitude to humanity it is painful to think that the majority of mortals will never be able to rise above this view of life.” In its place, he sees science as an area that creates knowledge to offer solutions to human problems (Freud, 2005).

In addition, Freud admits that civilization enables human beings to control the resources in nature and create wealth. Through civilization and science, people are able to adjust and distribute wealth effectively among each other for the betterment of society. However, religion only relies on myths and promise of a better world without any evidence. Freud, therefore, calls for the advancement of science and rejection of religious ideals as senseless. He claims, “But science has given us evidence by its numerous and important successes that it is no illusion” which he uses to advance his idea of disregarding religion. In this way, Freud felt that science offers direction and solutions while religion is a mere figment on human imagination. In the advancement of science, people realize their potential and develop new ways of building their lives (Shapiro, 2012, p. 560).

Conclusion

Religion and science have been areas building controversy over the years. Sigmund Freud is a philosopher who generated his ideas that supported the theories of science while he discerned religion. Through his works, he cited religion as just an illusion created by human beings to deal with problems of the world using a divine being. He advocates for science as the effective method of getting solutions to human problems. He cites science as a discipline that uses experiments and generates solutions based on evidence.

References

Freud, S. (2012).The Future of an Illusion. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press

Freud, S. (2005). Civilization and its discontents.New York: WW Norton & Company.

Jacobs, M. (2003).Sigmund Freud. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE.

Palmer, M. (2003).Freud and Jung on religion.London, Uk: Routledge.

Ross, M. (2001). The Humanity of the Gods: The Past and Future of Freud’s Psychoanalytic Interpretation of Religion. Annual Of Psychoanalysis, 29263.

Shapiro, B. (2012). Civilization and Its Discontents.Psychoanalytic Inquiry, 32(6), 559-569. doi:10.1080/07351690.2012.703896