The Future of an Illusion

by Sigmund Freud, W. D. Robson-Scott (Translator)

Overview

In The Future of an Illusion, Freud’s psychoanalysis of religion is the culmination of a lifelong thought pattern. Freud examines human nature and the role of religion in society, proclaiming that human instincts are destructive to civilization and must be restrained to maintain an orderly society. Religion, viewed as a set of false beliefs based on human desires, manifests as a God-like father figure to a helpless child, whose survival is dependent upon delusional beliefs for independence, security, and incentives for good behavior. Declaring religion and science as mortal enemies, Freud concludes that civilization can only be redeemed through new constructions of existence and ideas motivated by science.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780486852157
Publisher:	Dover Publications
Publication date:	03/15/2023
Series:	Dover Thrift Editions: Psychology
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	64
Sales rank:	948,940
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is one of the twentieth century's greatest minds and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. His many works include The Ego and the Id; An Outline of Psycho-Analysis; Inhibitions; Symptoms and Anxiety; New Introductory Lectures on Psycho-Analysis; Civilization and Its Discontent, and others.

Peter Gay (1923—2015) was the author of more than twenty-five books, including the National Book Award winner The Enlightenment, the best-selling Weimar Culture, and the widely translated Freud: A Life for Our Time.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction, Todd Dufresne
Sigmund Freud: A Brief Chronology
Translator’s Note, Gregory C. Richter

The Future of an Illusion

Appendix A: “The Illusion of a Future”: Oskar Pfister’s Response to Freud’s The Future of an Illusion

Appendix B: Other Works by Freud and Pfister on Religion

1. Sigmund Freud, “Obsessive Actions and Religious Practices” (1907)
2. From Sigmund Freud, Totem and Taboo (1913)
3. From Sigmund Freud, “Scientific Interest in Psychoanalysis” (1913)
4. From Sigmund Freud, Civilization and Its Discontents (1930)
5. From Sigmund Freud, Moses and Monotheism: Three Essays (1939)
6. From Oskar Pfister, On the Psychology of Philosophical Thought (1923)

References

Index

Editorial Reviews

This new edition and translation of Sigmund Freud’s The Future of an Illusion has much to recommend it. The Introduction, in particular, is a gem of insightful analysis of the conflicting motives and logical inconsistencies that characterize Freud’s arguments in this controversial essay. In laying bare the contradictions inherent in this work, Dufresne brings a fresh and incisive understanding to a book that, despite well-justified skepticism about its scientific merits, remains a thought-provoking and quintessentially Freudian explication of religious belief.” — Frank J. Sulloway, University of California, Berkeley, and author of Freud, Biologist of the Mind: Beyond the Psychoanalytic Legend and Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives

“This new Broadview Press edition is a wonderful example of rigorous and imaginative scholarly collaboration. Gregory Richter provides a lucid and lively translation, and some searching reflections on the problems of translation, while Todd Dufresne contextualizes Freud’s puzzling, late life assault on organized religion, and his equivocal embrace of Enlightenment positivism. Oskar Pfister, one of the book’s earliest and most cogent critics, is also discussed with admirable clarity and charm. Bravo!” — Daniel Burston, Duquesne University, and author of The Legacy of Erich Fromm

“Gregory C. Richter’s fluent new translation shows one of Freud’s most popular books to be as clear, colloquial, and compelling as anything else by the master of psychoanalysis, and Todd Dufresne’s entertaining introduction makes a good case for its surprising contemporary relevance, in spite of its often puzzling arguments.” — Thomas Kemple, University of British Columbia

From the Publisher

"Gregory C. Richter's fluent new translation shows one of Freud's most popular books to be as clear, colloquial, and compelling as anything else by the master of psychoanalysis, and Todd Dufresne's entertaining introduction makes a good case for its surprising contemporary relevance, in spite of its often puzzling arguments."

Thomas Kemple

"This new Broadview Press edition is a wonderful example of rigorous and imaginative scholarly collaboration. Gregory Richter provides a lucid and lively translation, and some searching reflections on the problems of translation, while Todd Dufresne contextualizes Freud's puzzling, late life assault on organized religion, and his equivocal embrace of Enlightenment positivism. Oskar Pfister, one of the book's earliest and most cogent critics, is also discussed with admirable clarity and charm. Bravo!"

Daniel Burston

"This new edition and translation of Sigmund Freud's The Future of an Illusion has much to recommend it. The Introduction, in particular, is a gem of insightful analysis of the conflicting motives and logical inconsistencies that characterize Freud's arguments in this controversial essay. In laying bare the contradictions inherent in this work, Dufresne brings a fresh and incisive understanding to a book that, despite well-justified skepticism about its scientific merits, remains a thought-provoking and quintessentially Freudian explication of religious belief."

Frank J. Sulloway