Die Zukunft einer Illusion (The Future of an Illusion)

Leipzig/Wien/Zürich: Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, 1927. First edition. Wraps. Very Good +. Freud Describes Religion as an Illusion without a FutureFREUD, Sigmund. Die Zukunft einer Illusion (The Future of an Illusion). Internationaler Psychoanalytischer Verlag, Leipzig/Wien/Zürich, 1927. Half-title + TP + 5-91 + [93]-[95] = Publisher’s ads, Octavo. First Edition. In this famous assessment, Freud describes religion as an illusion, as wishes that are the "fulfillments of the oldest, strongest, and most urgent wishes of mankind.”. To differentiate between an illusion and an error, he lists scientific beliefs such as "Aristotle's belief that vermin are developed out of dung" as errors, but "the assertion made by certain nationalists that the Indo-Germanic race is the only one capable of civilization" is an illusion, simply because of the wishing involved. Religion, according to Freud, is an outshoot of the Oedipus complex, and represents man's helplessness in the world, having to face the ultimate fate of death, the struggle of civilization, and the forces of nature. He views God as a child-like "longing for [a] father." In his words "The gods retain the threefold task: they must exorcize the terrors of nature, they must reconcile men to the cruelty of Fate, particularly as it is shown in death, and they must compensate them for the sufferings and privations which a civilized life in common has imposed on them." A Freudian tour-de-force!CONDITION: Very good in original yellow card wrappers. Some loss to upper edge of title page where unopened pages were originally opened. The interior is clean, tight and bright. 

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