Religion is an attempt to get control over the sensory world, in which we are placed, by means of the wish-world, which we have developed inside us as a result of biological and psychological necessities.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Freud describes religion as a psychological mechanism used to manage the external world through internal wish-fulfillment driven by biological needs.
- In plain terms
- Religion is a way to try to control reality using our internal wishes and needs.
- What can you take from it?
- Religious systems often arise from psychological needs to manage reality.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Why do humans seek control over the unknown?
- Is religion a biological or spiritual need?
Another view
This definition reduces religion primarily to a psychological function rather than a spiritual experience.
More from Sigmund Freud
If one wishes to form a true estimate of the full grandeur of religion, one must keep in mind what it undertakes to do for men. It gives them information about…
Permalink to quote #31 Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.
Permalink to quote #33 Thinking is an experimental dealing with small quantities of energy, just as a general moves miniature figures over a map before setting his troops in action.
Permalink to quote #30
Related quotes
Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from the fact that it falls in with our instinctual desires.
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #33 At bottom God is nothing more than an exalted father.
Sigmund FreudSigmund Freud quote #7 It is difficult to imagine a set of beliefs more suggestive of mental illness than those that lie at the heart of many of our religious traditions.[2]
Sam HarrisSam Harris quote #7