Psychology and Religious Truth

Abstract

IN these lectures Dr. Hughes deals with some of the estimates of religion formed by psychologists. Freud's view that religion originates in the sex instinct is rejected by Dr. Hughes on the ground that this instinct is not itself fundamental but derivative from the will to live, which he regards as being the source of religion. He includes under this instinct not only the impulse to keep alive but also the wish to live well, for he takes the view that a spiritual no less than a biological need expresses itself in the will to live. Especially is this the case when a self-conscious stage has been reached. Also, religion arises from and gives expression to the whole personality and not just to a part, for example, the sexual. The view associated with the names of Durkheim and Levy Bruhl, that religion originated in the herd instinct, is also rejected. According to Levy Bruhl, the conception of God is in reality nothing but the idea of society or social cohesion, as it finds its unity in strong emotion. The decisive objection to this theory, in Dr. Hughes's opinion, is the fact that religion is an intensely individual and personal matter, and however far back we go, we find that religion begins in single souls who initiate the social movements in religion.

Psychology and Religious Truth

By Dr. Thomas Hywel Hughes. Pp. 160. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1942.) 7s. 6d. net.