The Future of an Illusion (Penguin Great Ideas)

"Many people wrongly deny Freud his right as a watershed thinker but this unfair criticism should be corrected. Take for example this text that together with Totem and Taboo and Moses and Monotheism lay the groundwork for an account of the natural origin of religion that would rival even Nietzsche and Marx. He distinguishes two complex reasons for religious belief (especially Christian belief) firstly the willing of an after life in which the injustices of this world can be rectified and secondly the pursuit of a father figure that can replace the human father as complete protector. Though the book makes some reference to ideas such as that of the Oedipus complex which is now considered dated and vastly speculative the text on the whole stays within the confines of perfectly reasonable theories. It is an ingenious and fascinating look at the beliefs of millions of people around the world and is a text that has for too long been overlooked by those interested in the psychology behind religious belief."
~ Written on 2003-01-23