Interdisciplinary lecture series "Psychoanalyse und Religion"

The lecture series will explore the relationship between religion and psychoanalysis, incorporating philosophical questions into the discussion.  Particular emphasis will be placed on current social challenges and crises related to religion.

Since the early days of psychoanalysis, religion — alongside myth and art — has played a central role as an area of inquiry in the history of civilization. Overall, religion can be understood as a complex interplay of intrapsychic processes, relational experiences and cultural symbolic systems. Psychoanalysis makes an essential contribution to this understanding by examining unconscious structures of meaning, linguistic orders and internal object relations, without prematurely reducing religious phenomena to mere illusion.

Freud famously understood religion primarily as an illusion that serves to make the hardships of life more bearable, thereby positioning himself within the tradition of Enlightenment thought. In contrast, thinkers such as Oskar Pfister, Carl Gustav Jung and, in particular, Erich Fromm with his humanistic perspective, emphasized that religion can also foster personal growth and psychological well-being. More recent psychoanalytic approaches have further contributed to this differentiation. Building on Donald Winnicott's work, religious experience is situated in the “transitional space”, where subjective and objective reality are mediated. Another important perspective is offered by Jacques Lacan, who analyses religion from linguistic and structural points of view, while also taking it seriously as a source of meaning.

Have a look at our event program.

Watch a selection of our event videos on our YouTube channel.

Unfortunately, the event is already fully booked.