Discussion of “The Religion of Psychoanalysis”

Dr. Wood's title is an intriguing one and raises many questions. Some of these he answers; others he leaves’ for us to ponder. For one thing, “religion” and “psychoanalysis” must be defined at the outset. Dr. Wood has done this indirectly: he is trained both as an analyst and as a priest. He is thus uniquely qualified to discuss the problems he raises. For there are problems involved in applying either of these fields to the other, whether it be the psychoanalysis of religion or the religion of psychoanalysis. I suspect that Dr. Wood has had to struggle through the traditional confrontation between these two branches and come to terms within himself. This is so, because the questions he raises will inevitably be seen within the context of the broader and long-standing historical “war between science and religion” that many thoughtful philosophers, theologians, and scientists have had to confront, each for himself. Some of these views are presented in two books I recommend to you: Science Ponders Religion, edited by the astronomer Harlow Shapley1; and Religion Ponders Science, edited by the minister Edwin Booth.2

Narrowing down the focus on this broad issue, one comes to the more limited one of psychiatry—including psychoanalysis—and religion. It is no coincidence that psychiatry lies at the interface between religion and medical science. As analysts, we must consider values, ethics, and morality more than any medical specialty. It is no coincidence that the Director of the Hastings Institute of Society, Ethics and the Life Sciences, Willard Gaylin, is a psychiatrist. An article by Wachtel entitled: “Reconsideration: Karen Horney's Ironic Vision”3 has emerged from that Institute. The implicit question it raises is whether psychoanalysis is essentially a science or something else—an art, a philosophy, or a social study. And this question is even more relevant today in the rapidly changing cultural scene, where we are faced with many “models”, such as the so-called medi