Books by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
How should we approach the psychological study of religion, and how relevant is classical psychoa... more How should we approach the psychological study of religion, and how relevant is classical psychoanalysis, identified with the writings of Sigmund Freud, to the understanding of religion?
Freud's writings on religion have been discussed often and continue to attract attention and debate. Psychoanalysis and Theism starts with an essay by Adolf Grunbaum, one of the world's leading philosophers of science and an incisive critic of Freud's work. Grunbaum looks at Freud's general claims about the psychological mechanisms involved in religion and finds them lacking. Then, in a surprising turn, Grunbaum judges some of Freud's interpretations of concrete religious ideas and practices to be not only cogent, but indispensable. When it comes to the case of the belief in Virgin Birth, Grunbaum finds an Oedipal interpretation to be our only choice. This remarkable essay is the stimulus for a symposium with seven senior scholars, coming from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis, who present their critical reflections on how we should study religion, how we should treat Freud's ideas, and what direction should psychological research on concrete religious behavior take. The contributors bring to this effort their varied fields of expertise, from analytical philosophy to experimental psychology. Of special interest are essays which deal with the Virgin Birth doctrine and its possible psychological sources and with the potential for future psychoanalytic studies of faith and ritual. Other essays focus on Freud's conscious and unconscious motivations for studying religion as well as the hidden biases and lacunae found in the social science literature on religious practices. This volume adds a unique combination of critical and knowledgeable voices to the debate on Sigmund Freud's legacy.
Earlier related publications:
Beit Hallahmi, B. Psychoanalytic Studies of Religion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Bunzl, J. & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (eds.) Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
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Papers by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
PsycTESTS Dataset, 1982
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Journal of Contemporary Religion, Sep 2, 2015
Abstract This comment extends the analysis proposed by James Lewis in his research note in the Ma... more Abstract This comment extends the analysis proposed by James Lewis in his research note in the May 2015 issue of the Journal of Contemporary Religion. Looking at data from the United States, the normalization of non-religiosity is explored. It is concluded that, while those identifying as atheist or agnostic are clearly of higher education and income levels, most of the generic ‘nones’, who are simply unaffiliated but may hold religious beliefs, are closer to the mainstream.
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Mental Health, Religion & Culture, Oct 12, 2010
Page 1. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 2010, 114, iFirst Exploring the atheist personalit... more Page 1. Mental Health, Religion & Culture 2010, 114, iFirst Exploring the atheist personality: well-being, awe, and magical thinking in atheists, Buddhists, and Christians Catherine L. Caldwell-Harrisa*, Angela L. Wilsonb, Elizabeth LoTempioc and Benjamin Beit-Hallahmid ...
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Comprehensive Psychiatry, 1974
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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, 2018
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Encyclopedia of Psychology and Religion, 2020
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Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 1997
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Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and Psychology, 2019
Fears and stories about an underground religion devoted to Satan, which demands and carries out c... more Fears and stories about an underground religion devoted to Satan, which demands and carries out child sacrifice, appeared in the United States in the late twentieth century and became the subject of media reports supported by some mental health professionals. Looking at these modern fantasies leads us back to ancient stories which in some cases believers consider the height of religious devotion. Horrifying ideas about human sacrifice, child sacrifice, and the offering to the gods of a beloved only son by his father appear repeatedly in Western traditions, starting with the Greeks and the Hebrews. This publication focuses on rituals of violence tied to religion, both imagined and real. The main question of this work is the meaning of blood and ritual killing in the history of religion. The publication examines the encounter with the idea of child sacrifice in the context of human hopes for salvation.
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Critical Research on Religion, 2017
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College Student Journal, 1972
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Psychological Reports, 2015
The study by Jing (2014) is examined and analyzed within a broader theoretical framework. A gener... more The study by Jing (2014) is examined and analyzed within a broader theoretical framework. A general definition of religion is presented, together with a brief description of what makes religion a universal product of human cognition. What we have been observing is a general decrease in religiosity as well as an increase in the number of individuals who describe themselves as nonbelievers. Secularization does not mean that religious ideas disappear, but that there is a significant decline in the allocation of material and psychological resources to supernaturalism. Chinese nonbelievers studied by Jing are not very different than nonbelievers in other cultures.
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Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 2015
This commentary deals with the nonconformity of academics and the ethos of social science. Academ... more This commentary deals with the nonconformity of academics and the ethos of social science. Academics in all fields deviate from majority norms in politics and religion, and this deviance may be essential to the academic mind and to academic norms. The Enlightenment legacy inspires both methods and subject matter in academic work, and severing ties with it may be impossible.
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Children's Understanding of Death
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Leonardo, 1983
The psychological processes involved in religious activities can be found in other human activiti... more The psychological processes involved in religious activities can be found in other human activities. Art is one example of human activity in which processes similar to those operating in religion are involved. Through looking at the psychology of art, we may gain useful ...
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Psychotherapy: Theory, Research & Practice, 1975
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Journal of Marriage and the Family, 1984
An academic directory and search engine.
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Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 1973
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Journal of Clinical Psychology, 1972
... Developing the prison fantasy questionnaire (PFQ) . Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. Article first pu... more ... Developing the prison fantasy questionnaire (PFQ) . Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. Article first published online: 21 FEB 2006. ... First page of article. Get PDF (340K). More content like this. Find more content: like this article. Find more content written by: Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. ...
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International Journal of Psychology, 1987
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Books by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Freud's writings on religion have been discussed often and continue to attract attention and debate. Psychoanalysis and Theism starts with an essay by Adolf Grunbaum, one of the world's leading philosophers of science and an incisive critic of Freud's work. Grunbaum looks at Freud's general claims about the psychological mechanisms involved in religion and finds them lacking. Then, in a surprising turn, Grunbaum judges some of Freud's interpretations of concrete religious ideas and practices to be not only cogent, but indispensable. When it comes to the case of the belief in Virgin Birth, Grunbaum finds an Oedipal interpretation to be our only choice. This remarkable essay is the stimulus for a symposium with seven senior scholars, coming from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis, who present their critical reflections on how we should study religion, how we should treat Freud's ideas, and what direction should psychological research on concrete religious behavior take. The contributors bring to this effort their varied fields of expertise, from analytical philosophy to experimental psychology. Of special interest are essays which deal with the Virgin Birth doctrine and its possible psychological sources and with the potential for future psychoanalytic studies of faith and ritual. Other essays focus on Freud's conscious and unconscious motivations for studying religion as well as the hidden biases and lacunae found in the social science literature on religious practices. This volume adds a unique combination of critical and knowledgeable voices to the debate on Sigmund Freud's legacy.
Earlier related publications:
Beit Hallahmi, B. Psychoanalytic Studies of Religion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Bunzl, J. & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (eds.) Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
Papers by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
Freud's writings on religion have been discussed often and continue to attract attention and debate. Psychoanalysis and Theism starts with an essay by Adolf Grunbaum, one of the world's leading philosophers of science and an incisive critic of Freud's work. Grunbaum looks at Freud's general claims about the psychological mechanisms involved in religion and finds them lacking. Then, in a surprising turn, Grunbaum judges some of Freud's interpretations of concrete religious ideas and practices to be not only cogent, but indispensable. When it comes to the case of the belief in Virgin Birth, Grunbaum finds an Oedipal interpretation to be our only choice. This remarkable essay is the stimulus for a symposium with seven senior scholars, coming from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, and psychoanalysis, who present their critical reflections on how we should study religion, how we should treat Freud's ideas, and what direction should psychological research on concrete religious behavior take. The contributors bring to this effort their varied fields of expertise, from analytical philosophy to experimental psychology. Of special interest are essays which deal with the Virgin Birth doctrine and its possible psychological sources and with the potential for future psychoanalytic studies of faith and ritual. Other essays focus on Freud's conscious and unconscious motivations for studying religion as well as the hidden biases and lacunae found in the social science literature on religious practices. This volume adds a unique combination of critical and knowledgeable voices to the debate on Sigmund Freud's legacy.
Earlier related publications:
Beit Hallahmi, B. Psychoanalytic Studies of Religion. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Bunzl, J. & Beit-Hallahmi, B. (eds.) Psychoanalysis, Identity, and Ideology. Boston, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.