The Future Of An Illusion Essay

In The Future of an Illusion, Freud talks about the origin of religion and the reasons civilization should no longer be founded on its doctrines. Freud states that religion is an illusion, which he describes as wishful thinking based on the desires of men’s need of protection against nature (94). Freud states religion does three things for men. It protects men from nature, it helps men “reconcile” with fate and makes up for the privations of civilization (31). He also states that religion is purely a human instinct, which is the need of the adult to view the world and experiment it through relationships (26). He calls this the “infantile prototype”, in which an adult personifies nature and creates a God that represents the relationship it had with its parents as a child, especially its relationship to the father (26). He ultimately believes that religion is a problem that needs to be fixed (103) and although is not entirely harmful (54), it is an obstacle to the acquisition of intelligence, progress (69) and an alteration of the “cruel”

As previously said, fate is the nature we can’t control. For example, a tsunami, earthquake, death or an incurable disease are natural occurrences we have no power to prevent. Freud says religion helps us accept it by personifying it. It helps us deal with the sense of helplessness and fear of being attacked by it (25). Believing there are forces that enable the good or bad things to happen, (like there are people that restrict us or give us liberties) helps us become familiarized with fate, which makes it easier to accept it since we can respond to it as we respond to society (25). For example, people prayed to the gods or God for their favor and in return, they’ll do something for it, they plead for mercy when sick or when they thought the gods or God were angry they would do something to soften them. This according to Freud gave them a sense of control over the situation or the forces