Question

IN HIS WORK THE FUTURE OF AN ILLUSION, SIGMUND FREUD CALLS RELIGIOUS IDEAS ILLUSIONS. WHAT DOES FREUD MEAN? HOW DOES HE SUPPORT HIS CLAIM? WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO FREUD IN RESPONSE? DO YOU AGREE WITH HIM? DISAGREE? WHY?

Answer 1

First of all, to understand the essence of Sigmund Freud's "The Future of an Illusion"; we need to briefly look up to Freud's early days. His antagonistic attitude started developing from the early childhood days as he was brought up in a non-religious household. His father gave up most of his religious beliefs who was primarily an orthodox Jew. Freud always disdained the Roman Catholic Church as he saw it as a prototype of organized religion. Such ideas were also influenced because he studied in the German school of naturalistic science.

By calling religious ideas as "illusion" he highlights religion's non-verifiable premise. According to him, the religious beliefs cannot be verified as there is no strict logical proof or no real-world validity. Here, Freud is not concerned with providing a pragmatic view but a verificationist view. He supports his claim by contemplating those religious teachings which fail to provide any path for convincing oneself of the validity of their claims. People simply accept without proof. he also supports his claim by giving another distinguishing attribute of illusions, that it is based on irrational and wishful thinking. people are driven towards these set of beliefs as it somewhere gives them an assurance of some gain. As the product wish fulfillment, illusions have no definite relation to the reality and question of its falsity or truth may be ignored. Moreover, the term "illusion" is his way of using a theoretical terminology to criticize and a means of delineation.

Freud's ideas are agreeable as his commentary is on the nature of a specific tradition, which is the Judo-Christian tradition. Although while commenting on the psychological status of belief, his theoretical frame seems universal. Also, he targets the epistemological status of the Christian Doctrine and not on the full cultural manifestation. According to Freud, the religious texts are full of revisions, falsifications and contradictions; factual confirmations which are themselves unconfirmed. Freud eventually stresses on the fact that it cannot be judged as the religious claims cannot be proved therefore it can't be refuted. There is very little and unconfirmed information about religion to make a critical approach. The approach is not to prove religion all absurd as it is an integral and irreplaceable assent of any civilization. Freud is concerned and determined to remove the belief that religion has an essential social importance in terms of maintaining the social order and morality. Considering all these notions, it is far agreeable to call religion a mere illusion to a great extent.