Moses And Monotheism
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| Moses And Monotheism - by Sigmund Freud |
Review by Tony Sunderland
Moses and Monotheism is Sigmund Freud's last book and was only published after his death. It contains a concise summary and revision of his major theories but even more importantly he expresses his true beliefs about the history of the Judeo/Christian religions. Freud believed that the origins of Judaism begin with the Egyptian heretic king Akhenaten.
He was so concerned about this premise that he believed he could be assassinated by the Catholic church. I understand that many of Freud's teaching have been discarded however, his views on history are unique and depart from mainstream orthodoxy. His work on patriarchal dominance in ancient societies is particularly insightful.
some quotes from the book :
“We live in very remarkable times. We find with astonishment that progress has concluded an alliance with barbarism.”
“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. But it cannot achieve its end. Its doctrines carry with them the stamp of the times in which they originated, the ignorant childhood days of the human race. Its consolations deserve no trust. Experience teaches us that the world is not a nursery. The ethical commands, to which religion seeks to lend its weight, require some other foundations instead, for human society cannot do without them, and it is dangerous to link up obedience to them with religious belief. If one attempts to assign to religion its place in man’s evolution, it seems not so much to be a lasting acquisition, as a parallel to the neurosis which the civilized individual must pass through on his way from childhood to maturity.”
CONTENTS
PART I
MOSES AN EGYPTIAN - - - - n
PART II
IF MOSES WAS AN EGYPTIAN 29
PART III
MOSES, HIS PEOPLE, AND MONOTHEISTIC
RELIGION 89
PREFATORY NOTES 89
SECTION I:
1. The Historical Premisses 95
2. Latency Period and Tradition - 107
3. The Analogy - - - 116
4. Application - - - 129
5. Difficulties - - - - 148
SECTION II:
1. Summary - - - - - 163
2. The People of Israel - - 166
3. The Great Man - - - 169
4. The Progress in Spirituality - 176
5 . Renunciation versus Gratification 182
6. The Truth in Religion - 193
7. The Return of the Repressed - 197
8. The Historical Truth - - - 201
9. The Historical Development - 207
GLOSSARY 217
INDEX - - - 219
Author: Sigmund Freud
Publication Date: 1939
Translator: Katherine Jones
Download 14 MB PDF book