Christian anti-Judaism and early object relations theory

The central ideas of early object relations theory are heavily inflected with Christian anti-Judaism, particularly as found in the work of Ian Dishart Suttie, now credited as the founder of this tradition. The critique of Freud launched by Suttie repudiates Freudian theory as a "disease" i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Hewitt, Marsha Aileen 1948- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Sage [2018]
In: Critical research on religion
Year: 2018, Volume: 6, Issue: 3, Pages: 226-242
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Freud, Sigmund 1856-1939 / The Unconscious / Object (Philosophy) / Relationstechnik / Suttie, Ian D. 1889-1935 / Anti-judaism
IxTheo Classification:AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism
AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
AE Psychology of religion
Further subjects:B Critical Theory
B Sigmund Freud
B Psychoanalysis
B Anti-judaism
B Ian Suttie
B ideology critique
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
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Summary:The central ideas of early object relations theory are heavily inflected with Christian anti-Judaism, particularly as found in the work of Ian Dishart Suttie, now credited as the founder of this tradition. The critique of Freud launched by Suttie repudiates Freudian theory as a "disease" inextricably connected to Freud being a Jew. Suttie's portrayal of Judaism both conforms to and replicates those theological commitments that privilege a triumphalist, supersessionist Christianity that breaks with Judaism, understood as devoid of love, ethics, and social justice interests. The paper argues that the elements organizing the central concepts that structure Suttie's Christian prejudice constitute distorting ideological interests that circulate and shape important strands of contemporary object relations theory. Central to the authors discussed is a repudiation of Freud's theory of unconscious drives on the basis of privileging love and intersubjectivity as the motivators of human psychological development made possible by Jesus and Christianity. The paper demonstrates that contemporary object relations theory remains heavily indebted to Suttie while remaining oblivious to his explicit anti-Judaism.
ISSN:2050-3040
Contains:Enthalten in: Critical research on religion
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/2050303218800378