On Freud and Jung’s Analyses of Religion

An Introduction and Outline

The goal of this paper is to analyze the insights of Freud and Jung regarding religion, outline their similarities and differences, and provide commentary on the strengths and relevance of each. Beginning with Jung, this paper will first outline the foundation for his conclusions, his conclusions themselves, and the ramifications for applying this viewpoint to the academic study of religion. This will repeat for Freud, followed by a comparative analysis of the two, as well as my conclusion regarding the strength and relevance of each.

Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, being viewed as the fathers of modern philosophy, have both formed elaborate opinions about the origins and outcomes of religions in both the broad sense and in specific cases. I believe, taking into account my personal experiences, along with the background and experiences of both Freud and Jung, that Jung has the stronger argument from the viewpoint of the innately religious, while Freud has the stronger from the viewpoint of the atheistic. In an academic sense, Freud’s argument is more helpful in the analysis of the mind, while Jung’s argument is more helpful in one’s own spiritual growth.

Jung: An Analysis

To properly analyze Carl Jung’s point of view, one must first take into account the environment in which he spent his formative years. His father was a pastor, and his mother was the daughter of his father’s Hebrew professor, and his grandparents were notable for extreme religious views (Greene, 2011). This, combined with other factors, such as his work with his patients, led him to the conclusion that spiritual belief is essential to the wellbeing of humanity. It is explained in Auf Unendliches bezogen – Spirituelle Entdeckungen bei C. G. Jung that Jung believed that, at the core of all religions, there is the idea of a transformation of self, henceforth referred to as individuation, in which the parts of one’s mind (personality, the components of the immature psyche, and the experiences of the person's life) become a whole, fully healthy and functioning adult mind. This idea of religion as the path to individuation has become known as the core of the psychology of religion and has remained as such since the formation of the field. (Wulff, 1991). The application of Jung’s theories regarding religion to psychotherapy has led to the formation of the formation of the field of analytical psychology. Analytical philosophy is a school of psychotherapy that places heavy emphasis.