Philosophy Discussion Forums

Dr. Paul Vitz ~ Psychologist, Former Atheist

"Freud makes the simple and easily understandable claim that once a child is disappointed in or loses respect for his earthly father, belief in a heavenly father becomes impossible."

Dr. Paul Vitz wrote a book titled FAITH OF THE FATHERLESS (1999) in which he explores a number of biographies of famous atheists and finds a consistent pattern of problems with earthly fathers: either the total absence of a father, a cold or hostile relationship with the father, or contempt for the father.

Your thoughts?

Charlemagne wrote: ↑December 21st, 2022, 2:58 pm Dr. Paul Vitz ~ Psychologist, Former Atheist

"Freud makes the simple and easily understandable claim that once a child is disappointed in or loses respect for his earthly father, belief in a heavenly father becomes impossible."

Dr. Paul Vitz wrote a book titled FAITH OF THE FATHERLESS (1999) in which he explores a number of biographies of famous atheists and finds a consistent pattern of problems with earthly fathers: either the total absence of a father, a cold or hostile relationship with the father, or contempt for the father.

Your thoughts?

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I am locking this topic as it does not meet the criteria for rule H.4. of the Forum Rules, namely in that is a yes/no question.

Moreover, the OP lacks any argument or evidence provided to argue one side or the other.

The mention of a book that may allegedly contain references to some kind of argument or evidence is not the same as providing the evidence and argument.

Likewise, the OP also doesn't adhere to the Site Policies Regarding Links and URLs, namely in that the summary of the book is insufficient. It is likely better to replace the reference to a book and that book's alleged findings with actual specific verifiable statistics that list specific percentages and sources of the claim.