Essay About Paul Marcus Wesport And Classic Freudian Texts

Ancient Religious Wisdom, Spirituality and Psychoanalysis
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Religion/Sciences
Studies in
The online version of this article can be found at:
DOI: 10.1177/000842980603500220
Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses 2006 35: 355
Eleanor Pontoriero
2003. 212 p
Spirituality and Psychoanalysis : Paul Marcus Wesport, CT: Praeger,
Comptes rendus / Reviews of books: Ancient Religious Wisdom,
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The Canadian Corporation for Studies in Religion
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cism » (155-470) ; Eric Ormsby, The faith of pharaoh : A disputed question in Islamic
theology » (471-489) ; Bernd Radtke, «The eight rules ofJunayd : A general
overview of the genesis and development of Islamic dervish orders » (490-502) ;
Shafique N. Virani, « Synlphony of gnosis : A self-definition of the Ismaili ginân tradition
» (503-521) ; Ahmad R Moussavi, « The attitude of the &dquo;ulaln£&dquo; towards the
government in nineteenth-century Iran » (522-537) ; Mehdi Mohaghegh, « Traditional
philosophy in Iran with reference to modern trends » (538-541) ; Bert G. Fragner,
« Traces of modernisation and Westernisation ? Some comparative considerations
concerning late Bukhâran chronicles » (542-558).
Une lecture assidue de ces articles permettra dentrevoir les intérêts très vari[s
des différents chercheurs qui ont c6toy[ Hermann Landolt sur des chemins sinueux
quil fallait sans cesse défricher pour mieux apprécier la pluralité des idées aussi bien
philosophiques que soufies.
Diane Steigerwald
Department of Religious Studies, California State University (Long Beach)
Diane Steigerwald
Department of Religious Studies, California State University (Long Beach)
Ancient Religious Wisdom, Spirituality and Psychoanalysis
Paul Marcus
Wesport, CT: Praeger, 2003. 212 p.
and selt-transcendence . Marcus argues that psychoanalysis de-spiritualizes the person
in its reduction of the transcendent dimension to materialism and &dquo;scientifism&dquo; (2).
The aim of his inquiry is to expose the limitations of psychoanalysis to enable the psychoanalyst
to be &dquo;a secular minister of souls&dquo; (197).
Marcus prefaces his exploration of the wisdom traditions by exposing his assumptions
and point of departure. He begins by stating that &dquo;the spiritual quest&dquo; is the primary
motivation intrinsic to the human condition. The position Marcus takes has a
profound resonance with what the psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor, Viktor Frankl,
says of the will to meaning. For both, religiosity is that component of being human
that facilitates psychological and biological well-being. Marcus cites Frankls definition
of spirituality as the underlying motivation of all human activity, which is &dquo;mans
search for meaning&dquo; (196). By taking this view, Marcus exposes the limitations of
Freudian psychoanalysis, namely, the reduction of spirituality to an immature orientation
toward the world and life with others.
Classic Freudian texts that analyse religion, essentially define it in negative terms.
In The Future of an Illusion religion is defined as an obsessional neurosis grounded in
infantile wish fulfilment (I.e., the need for a parental deity) and entails &dquo;a delusional
remoulding of reality&dquo; to accommodate views about an afterlife as well as compensation
for human suffering and injustice. Freuds analysis of religion is a preface to his
other classic text, Civilization and its Discontents. In this text, Freud isolates the psycho-
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and individual conscience.
Marcus explores the potential of religion to facilitate mature psychological development.
Marcus argues that the most important aspects of religion must be re-framed
in terms of ethics, namely, &dquo;what it means to be a human being as we move through
the life cycle; that is, how does one create the good