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An old, old subject which has been thrashed out by many men over a period of many years, but as presented by this author it is treated from a fresh outlook, and there is no one who is interested in human affairs, and specifically in the great problem of Religion versus Science, but what will find the book worth while. It is written essentially from the standpoint of the psychoanalytic contributions which have been made to this enormous subject. These contributions from divers and sundry sources have been accumulated, classified, and presented in a coherent argument, clearly written, and easily understandable.
A preliminary summary states very well in a few words the conclusions of the author. In speaking of the need of recognizing the truths of both science and religion and of directing both to a common end, he says: “This question should not be difficult to answer, if we accept the psychological explanation of religion which has been given. Religion, no less than magic, is an expression of the pleasure principle. Like magic again, it belongs to an infantile level of individual psychological growth, and to an elementary stage of social evolution. Religion—or magic—when believed in by men and women or by present-day civilized communities, can only be reckoned as a failure to mature—in just the same way as the neurotics and the psychotics. In the only kind of complete growing-up which is appropriate to the present age, the magical and the religious stages should be left behind, as the reality principle takes shape and leads to the interest in objective truth which we call science.”
White