FREUD AND RELIGIOUS BELIEF
H. L. Philp
Rockliff, Salisbury Square, London.
Condition: Good. Blue jacket lightly rubbed and chipped at spine ends; hardcover binding firm and clean. Front blank page excised for inscription with margin retention for integrity..
About the Book
Published to coincide with the centenary of Sigmund Freuds birth, Freud and Religious Belief presents the first major critical theological examination of Freuds writings on religion. Dr. H. L. Philp, both psychologist and theologian, addresses Freuds treatment of religious belief as an illusion born of psychological need, contending that Freuds conclusions were based on limited anthropological and historical insight rather than on empirical or philosophical rigour.
Philp acknowledges Freuds pioneering contributions to the understanding of the unconscious and repression, but argues that his atheism what Philp calls the unrepentant atheism of early formation prejudiced his reading of religious phenomena. The result is both a critique of reductionist psychology and a defence of religious experience as an authentic expression of the human search for truth.
About the Author
H. L. Philp was a scholar with dual training in psychology and theology, a combination that allowed him to address the psychological dimensions of faith with both empathy and critical acumen. His work anticipates later efforts to reconcile psychoanalysis and religious experience within a humanistic framework.
