Freud and Jung on Religion - Paperback

by Michael Palmer (Author)

In this outstanding book, originally published in 1997, and subsequently translated into many languages, Michael Palmer presents a detailed and comparative study of the two most famous theories of religion in the history of psychology: those of Freud and Jung.

The first part of the book analyses Freud's claim that religion is an obsessional neurosis--a psychological illness fueled by sexual repression--and the second part 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.

Originally given as a series of lectures at Bristol University, this Classic edition of Freud and Jung on Religion is important reading for general and specialist readers alike, as it assumes no prior knowledge of the theories of Freud or Jung and is an invaluable teaching text.

Author Biography

Michael Palmer is a former Teaching Fellow at McMaster University and Humboldt Fellow at Marburg University, and was for many years the founding Head of the Department of Religion and Philosophy at The Manchester Grammar School. Among his many other books, Routledge have also published a second series of Palmer's Bristol lectures, the best-selling The Question of God (2001), which provides a detailed analysis of the traditional arguments for God's existence. More recently Palmer has published three books on the philosophy of atheism: The Atheist's Creed (2010), The Atheist's Primer (2012), and Atheism for Beginners (2013).