...Question 1：Compare and contrast that Freud and James meant by religion. How does each feel that psychology illuminates the phenomenon of religion? a. Freud : “ The Future of an Illusion” * Oceanic feeling : In his opinion, there is not a strong enough need for it to be the source of all religious energy. Freud does not deny that this feeling may occur in people and offers a psychoanalytical explanation. Freud argues that the "oceanic feeling", if it exists, is the preserved "primitive ego-feeling" from infancy. The primitive ego-feeling precedes the creation of the ego and exists up until the mother ceases breastfeeding. Prior to this, the infant is regularly breastfed in response to its crying and has no concept that the breast does not belong to it. Therefore, the infant has no concept of a "self" or, rather, considers the breast to be part of itself. Freud argues that those experiencing an oceanic feeling as an adult are actually experiencing a preserved primitive ego-feeling. The ego, in contrast, comes into existence when the breast is taken away, and involves the infant's recognition that it is separate from the mother's breast, and therefore, that other persons exist. Freud argues that it would not necessarily contradict psychoanalytical theory for this primary ego-feeling to coexist along with the ego in some people. The main argument for this is that psychoanalytical theory holds that all thoughts are preserved in a conservation of psychic energy. Therefore...
Words: 505 - Pages: 3
...Peculiarly vivid or disturbing dreams leave behind impressions that are hard to dismiss. In Freud Sigmund’s view, the purpose of dreams is to allow us to satisfy in fantasies; the instinctual urges that society judges unacceptable. The part of the mind that Freud called censor transforms the dream content so as to disguise its true meaning. Freud called the censorship process the dreamwork. There is five processes brought into play during dream-work: displacement, condensation, symbolization, projection, and secondary revision. Did you ever awaken from a particularly vivid dream to find yourself having trouble, shaking the eerie, feeling it left behind? Was the dream simply the residue of your hectic day or something far more significant? Dream has always been a fascinating topic. I chose to know more about it because we are living in a world where our mind is a crucial part of our body. At night, we do not really comprehend how our mind works. When we are sleeping, we see images in our dreams sometimes stories or even the future. How does it all work? Where are those images coming from? Sigmund Freud in his book “ Interpretation of Dreams”, states that the dream is composed of two parts; the manifest and the latent content. The manifest content can be thought of as what a person would remember as soon as they wake what they would consciously describe to someone else when recalling the dream. Freud suggested that the manifest content possessed no meaning whatsoever because it was...
Words: 1090 - Pages: 5
...`Arguments from religious experience are never convincing.' (35 marks) Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud present challenges to religious experiences. Marx's challenges to religious experience arguments are sociological he suggested that the origins of religious experience are to be found in society. He states religion is about mythological beliefs and an unreal god that distracted people from the real world, religion is `the opium of the people', religious experiences create alienation and a religious experience could be the product of the desperate situation in which a person lived. Freud's challenges to religious experience arguments are psychological he suggested that religious experiences are a product of human psychology. He states religion is an illusion, religion expresses people's desires and religion originates from a childlike desire for a God who resembles a father figure. Some people have rejected James' claim that religious experience is primary. For example, many sociologists point out that the most likely people to have religious experiences are those who are already religious. However James' view has its weaknesses, for example some people have suggested that religious experiences are similar to hallucinations caused by drugs such as LSD. Furthermore J.L. Mackie argued in `The Miracle of Theism' that if mystical experiences are explainable psychologically, which James' stated is possible, and then mystical experiences can have no authority even for the person...
Words: 556 - Pages: 3
...Chapter 1 notes: What is Psychology? Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Some people might think that psychologists are interested only in problem or abnormal behaviors. In fact they are interested in every aspect of human thought and behavior. Perhaps the best way to introduce psychology is to look at what topics interest psychologists. The Fields of Psychology Two major organizations American Psychological Association (APA), founded over 100 years ago, and the American Psychological Society (APS), founded in 1988. Developmental Psychology Development psychologists study human mental and physical growth from the prenatal period through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Child psychologists focus on infants and children. Adolescent psychologists, who specialize in the teenage years. Life-span psychologists, who focus on the adult years. Physiological Psychology Physiological Psychologists investigate the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions. Neuropsychologists are primarily interested n the brain and the nervous system. Psychobiologists specialize in the body’s biochemistry and in the way that hormones, psychoactive medications (such antidepressants), and “social drugs” (such as alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine) affect people. Behavioral geneticists investigate the impact of heredity on both normal and abnormal traits and behavior. Experimental Psychology Experimental psychologists conduct...
Words: 2596 - Pages: 11
...1. What are some of the questions religion seeks to answer? Reflect on these deep metaphysical and ethical questions, and give an account of how you have tried to answer these questions, either through a theological or philosophical response. (For some of you this course may be your first opportunity to independently reflect on these deep rooted religions questions.) I think some of the questions religion seeks to answer are questions like: What happens after we die? Where did we originate from? How should we treat others and our surroundings? I have come to a current conclusion on not knowing for definite the answer to any of these questions. I have many thoughts on them. I think that maybe after we die our energy disperses and creates new beings in some fashion, not even necessarily beings but matter. I feel like maybe déjà vu occurs because we are compiled of energies from a million other beings/substances and it’s your energy remembering a similar situation. I think this out of the context that energy cannot be created or destroyed. I don’t know as if we will continue to have the same collection of consciousness or not. I would like to think we would because that’s a fun thought. I have spent a lot of time contemplating ideas such as these. I also don’t know where we originate. I understand our planet’s evolution and a bit beyond that. What I don’t understand (and probably never will) is what is beyond that. So, ok, we evolved through billions of years and I get that but...
Words: 1601 - Pages: 7
...sciences? What implications, if any, does this have for religion? Due to recent developments in the natural sciences fields of cosmology and biology the information suggests that the theistic worldview is easily reinforced through the Anthropic Cosmological Principle. The cosmological principle states that strengths of controlling forces of nature are determined by constants in nature (McGrath, 2010). In the cosmological principle we see through a series of fine structures life as we know it depends on physical constants and out of these constants there is the fine structure constant, gravitational fine structure constant and...
Words: 1551 - Pages: 7
...UNIT 1: THE DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY QUESTION #1.1: What is the definition of psychology? Psychology is best defined as the "scientific study of behavior in humans and animals." Behavior is what people and animals do: e.g., what a person says about last night's dream, and how long it takes a rat to run a maze. You might think that psychology was the "study of the mind" due to the fact that the prefix psyche is Greek for mind, soul, spirit, and the suffix ology refers to the study of something. Almost a hundred years ago, John Watson decided that psychology should be a science: not just a vague and introspective reflection on our own thoughts and feelings. Watson urged that psychology be defined as the scientific study of behavior. Since about 1920, most university psychologists have accepted Watson's definition. So, think of psychologists as scientists who study behavior. Introspection was the first technique for studying the mind There are some terms related to psychology that are frequently confused with it. Psychiatry is a branch of medicine specializing with mental disorders. Psychiatrists are medical doctors, and have been through medical school, an internship, residency training, and board certification as specialized physicians. The letters M.D. usually appear at the end of the name. The letters at the end of the name of a psychologist may be 1 Ph.D., Ed.D., or Psy.D., and so it may be appropriate to address a psychologist as...
Words: 4382 - Pages: 18
...& Westen, 2009), any philosophical questions about behavior thought, and feelings, came from using logic and argumentation. As the late ninetieth century came along, a new alternative approach in trying to understand the mind and behavior emerged. This new approach was to study the mind and behavior scientifically. William Wundt, “who founded the first psychological laboratory in Germany, and was also described as the father of psychology, use scientific methods to uncover the elementary units of human consciousness that combine to form more complex ideas” (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). The method Wundt and his students used was called introspection, where observers reported verbally what goes on in their minds when presented with a task to do. After recording his observers responses, Wundt conclusion was that “the basic elements of consciousness are sensations and feelings” (Kowalski & Westen, 2009), and can become a more complex idea if a person focuses attention, and mentally manipulates them. Wundt considered experimentation essential for studying the basic elements of the mind, while other methods, such as, the study of myths and religion requires higher mental process. However it was the next generation, (Wundt’s student) who took a different view of psychology. The student did this by staying away from philosophical thinking and developed a fully scientific approach to psychology. This lead to the beginning of the first two major schools of thought - structuralism...
Words: 1027 - Pages: 5
...The traditional view of science refers to theory development based on empirical observation, which aim to predict the future. It also combined the view of Rationalism and Empiricism in the aspect of knowledge: understand the world actively and derived from sensory information separately. Determinists also believed that science should be lawful because there must have a cause behind an event. Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn stood on the opposite site and suggested that science should be guided by problem and refutable and guided by paradigm. Besides science, philosophers also tried to use knowledge to understand the world. Philosopher like Aristotle believed sensory information is the source of knowledge whether dualist like Plato thought knowledge in human’s soul. Different views of the source of knowledge encouraged a trend of open criticism and set the ground for the rise of studying human learning. After Renaissance, people were released from the restraint of church authority and returned to the environment of earlier Greek. More people interested in studying of human being. Science instead the position of church and many people started suggesting their own thought. Isaac Newton believed that universe was created by God and operated by inserted laws which can be discovered. Rene Descartes thought there were innate ideas built in human which can affect physical bodies, then initiated the development of studying the functions of human body, stimulus-response relationship and non-human...
Words: 1103 - Pages: 5
...Psychological of Religion, Study Guides Study Guide-Intro chapters 1. List and define the dimensions of religious commitment. Religious belief (the Ideological Dimension)-the belief dimension refers to what is believed as part of religion, how strongly the belief is held, the bases for the intellectual assent, and how salient that the belief is in the person’s life. Religious Practice (the Ritualistic Dimension) the religious practice dimension refers to the set of behaviors that are expected of a person who declares belief in a certain religion. The emphasis is not on the effect the religion may have on the “nonreligious” aspects of the person’s daily life, but on the specific acts that are part of the religion itself. The religious feeling (the experiential dimension) –the religious feeling dimension is concerned with the inner mental and emotional world of the individual. In addition to experiential events that people may label “religious experiences” the feeling dimension includes such things as the desire to believe in some religion, the fear of not being religious, the sense of physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being that derives from belief and like. Religious knowledge (the intellectual dimension) the religious knowledge dimension refers to the information one has about one’s faith, as compared to belief in the faith. Religious effects (the consequential dimension)-the effects dimension refers to behavior, but not behavior that is formal part of religious...
Words: 1525 - Pages: 7
...RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE A2 Philosophy of Religion What is Religious Experience? • A religious experience is a non-empirical occurrence and may even be perceived as supernatural • It can be described as a “mental” event which is undergone by an individual and of which that person is aware. • Such an experience can be spontaneous or it may be brought about as a result of training and self-discipline. • Recipients of religious experiences usually say what has happened to them has drawn them into a deeper knowledge or awareness of God. • It is very important to remember that the experience itself is not a substitute for the Divine, bit a vehicle that is used to bring people closer to the Divine. • The experience that each individual has is absolutely unique and cannot be shared with anyone. • Finally, genuine religious experiences seem to be encouraging, they do not condemn the individual, but help them to live a better life or, for example, to help others. Arguments from Religious Experience from William James. The most famous commentator on Religious Experience is William James (1842 – 1910) He recognised that the term mystical is used in a wide variety of contexts but suggested that using it to refer to “any person who believes in thought transference and spirit return” is far too ambiguous. His famous work “The Varieties of Religious Experience”, published in 1902 includes his categorisation of the four characteristics which, he claims, will enable us to...
Words: 2406 - Pages: 10
...Explore the ways in which the three texts present the suffering of soldiers in the war. World War One is known as “the war to end all wars”[1]. The war cultured “extreme suffering” which inspired many writers. The war also aided the advancement of attitudes towards the emotionality of men. Individual suffering is manipulated to intensify the pain by isolating singular characters. Sacrifices of the men force the reader into an uncomfortable atmosphere. Sebastian Faulks’ Bildungsroman Birdsong highlights the suffering of individual to understate that of the masses. Regeneration, written by Pat Barker in 1991, uses factual occurrences of Sassoon and Owen’s lives in Craiglockhart to detail historic experiences of suffering. The poetry features both pro and anti-war perspectives from historical figures featured within Regeneration. Birdsong emotively persuades readers that individual anguish has detrimental effects on soldier’s lives intensifying their suffering. The texts use third person narrative to create emotive circumstances which manipulate the reader into understanding the suffering as either mass or individual. The writers’ portrayal of individual suffering was the most poignant compared to the subversion of widespread suffering. The texts expose the stigmatization of physical disability as a cause of individual suffering. Historically, the dependence of disabled life reflects the burden faced by soldiers of returning to normality. Wilfred Owen’s poem Disabled explores the...
Words: 4265 - Pages: 18
...Freud was born to Jewish Galician parents in the Moravian town of Příbor (German: Freiberg in Mähren), Austrian Empire, now part of the Czech Republic, the first of their eight children.[10] His father, Jakob Freud (1815–1896), a wool merchant, had two sons, Emanuel (1833–1914) and Philipp (1836–1911), from his first marriage. Jakob's family were Hasidic Jews, and though Jakob himself had moved away from the tradition, he came to be known for his Torah study. He and Freud's mother, Amalia (née Nathansohn), 20 years her husband's junior and his third wife, were married by Rabbi Isaac Noah Mannheimer on 29 July 1855. They were struggling financially and living in a rented room, in a locksmith's house at Schlossergasse 117 when their son Sigmund was born.[11] He was born with a caul, which his mother saw as a positive omen for the boy's future.[12] In 1859 the Freud family left Freiberg. Freud’s half brothers immigrated to Manchester, England, parting him from the “inseparable” playmate of his early childhood, Emanuel’s son, John.[13] Jacob Freud took his wife and two children (Freud's sister, Anna, was born in 1858; a brother, Julius, had died in infancy) firstly to Leipzig and then in 1860 to Vienna where four sisters (Rosa, Marie, Adolfine and Paula) and a brother (Alexander) were born. In 1865, the nine-year-old Freud entered the Leopoldstädter Kommunal-Realgymnasium, a prominent high school. He proved an outstanding pupil and graduated from the Matura in 1873 with honors...
Words: 3826 - Pages: 16
...Only a handful of educational theorists hold the view that if only the adult world would get out of the way, children would ripen into fully realized people. Most thinkers, educational practitioners, and parents acknowledge that children are born helpless and need the care and guidance of adults into their teens and often beyond. More specifically, children need to learn how to live harmoniously in society. Historically, the mission of schools has been to develop in the young both the intellectual and the moral virtues. Concern for the moral virtues, such as honesty, responsibility, and respect for others, is the domain of moral education. Moral education, then, refers to helping children acquire those virtues or moral habits that will help them individually live good lives and at the same time become productive, contributing members of their communities. In this view, moral education should contribute not only to the students as individuals, but also to the social cohesion of a community. The word moral comes from a Latin root (mos, moris) and means the code or customs of a people, the social glue that defines how individuals should live together. A Brief History of Moral Education Every enduring community has a moral code and it is the responsibility and the concern of its adults to instill this code in the hearts and minds of its young. Since the advent of schooling, adults have expected the schools to contribute positively to the moral education of children. When...
Words: 1981 - Pages: 8
...also indicate the best way to think and therefore live. At #2 is Jesus Christ, whose place as the central figure of Christianity has impacted the lives of his believers, all 2 billion of them (give or take). His existence has lead to the many holidays and churches that occupy mainly, western society. At #3 is Gautama Buddha, who is the spiritual teacher and founder of Buddhism. Lord Buddha has played a large role in the growth of many people of asian descent and offers a religion to the world that can be seen as very peaceful. At #4 is David, King of Israel or rather the Biblical King of Israel. As the founder of Jerusalem, he has empowered the Jewish nation to take on a large amount of influence in various aspects of the world, including the entertainment industry. At #5 is Ali, the founder of Sufism. Ali is a central figure in Sufism due to being anearly Caliph, expanding the religious world. Continuing the list at #6 is Joseph Smith, Jr.. He is one of America's religious leaders who actually founded a religion; in his case it is Mormonism. At #7 is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was an Indian nationalist leader. Being instrumental in non-violence and...
Words: 2884 - Pages: 12
