The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life
by Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
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Book Summary Information
Author: Armand M. Nicholi Jr.Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-07-29
ISBN: 074324785X
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Free Press
Book Reviews of The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life
Book Review: A Biographical Hatchet-job on Freud
Summary: 1 Stars
This book was given to me as a gift from a religiously inclined friend who said it would help us articulate our ongoing debate about religion (I was/am in the atheist corner of the ring). Sadly, this book offers little in the way of genuine debate.
As other reviewers have noted, Dr. Nicholi is either singularly inept (which I doubt) or simply dishonest in his claim that "The Question of God" does not take sides in the "debate" between Freud and Lewis. A cursory glance will reveal that the bulk of the quotations are from Lewis (imagine a political debate where one speaker gets two minutes to expound on an issue and the other gets ten); the bulk of the commentary is also devoted to Lewis (and every chapter ends with a meditation on Lewis' views). Early in the book, a pattern is established: we are typically presented with Freud's view of an issue; then we are given Lewis' early atheistic view of the same issue (often in some agreement with Freud); finally, we are given Lewis' post-conversion view, which coincides with Lewis' conversion into a happy man. Every so often we are then reminded that spiritually inclined people are generally happier and healthier than atheists.
The basic argument throughout seems to be that Freud's spiritual growth was stunted in comparison to that of Lewis. In itself, this is not an objectionable claim--or at least it is no more objectionable than Freud's diagnosis of religion as a form of psychological infantilism--but it becomes highly objectionable when the author pretends to impartiality. Nicholi is quick to identify what is ridiculous in Freudian psychoanalysis (e.g., the myth of the primal horde), but he consistently holds his tongue at Lewis' lame theodicy (e.g., God created man to be free--that is, an omnipotent being created something over which He had limited control). Instead of offering us an intellectually rigorous battle of ideas, Nicholi insults our intelligence with ad hominem attacks: Freud once used cocaine! He was vain! He was--horrors!--a pessimist. Lewis was none of these--after his conversion he was modest, well-liked, and just the kind of person you'd want to be.
Fine. Freud's dangerous thought was that truth and happiness didn't necessarily coincide. His claims about the human psyche and human development are certainly debatable, but Nicholi takes the easy way out and simply reiterates that faith makes people feel happier and more fulfilled. It is silly to claim that something must be true simply because one feels happiest believing it, but that is exactly what Nicholi does.
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