TY - BOOK ID - 77894202 TI - Men, religion, and melancholia : James, Otto, Jung, and Erikson PY - 2008 SN - 0300146507 058535815X 9780585358154 9780300146509 0300069715 9780300069716 0300069715 PB - New Haven, CT : Yale University Press, DB - UniCat KW - Psychology, Religious. KW - Psychologists of religion KW - Melancholy. KW - Mothers and sons. KW - Boys KW - Men KW - Psychology, Religious KW - Melancholy KW - Mothers and sons KW - Religion - General KW - Religion KW - Philosophy & Religion KW - Human males KW - Human beings KW - Males KW - Effeminacy KW - Masculinity KW - Children KW - Young men KW - Sons and mothers KW - Mother and child KW - Sons KW - Dejection KW - Emotions KW - Depression, Mental KW - Sadness KW - Religion, Psychologists of KW - Psychologists KW - Psychology of religion KW - Religions KW - Religious psychology KW - Psychology and religion KW - Psychology. KW - Religious life. KW - Psychology KW - Religious life KW - Psychological aspects KW - Psychologists of religion - Psychology KW - Psychologists of religion - Religious life KW - Boys - Religious life KW - Boys - Psychology KW - Men - Religious life KW - Men - Psychology KW - Boys. KW - Men. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:77894202 AB - It is not by coincidence that the key figures in the psychology of religion-William James, Rudolph Otto, Carl Jung, and Erik Erikson-each fought a lifelong battle with melancholia, argues Donald Capps in this engrossing book. These four men experienced similar traumas in early childhood: each perceived a loss of mother's unconditional love. In the deep melancholy that resulted, they turned to religion. Capps contends that the main impetus for men to become religious lies in such melancholia, and that these four authors were typical, although their losses were especially severe because of complicating personal circumstances. Offering a new way of viewing the major classics in the psychology of religion, Capps explores the psychological origins of these authors' own religious visions through a sensitive examination of their writings.Using Freud's "Mourning and Melancholia" and "The Uncanny" as interpretive keys, the author explores James's The Varieties of Religious Experience, Otto's The Idea of the Holy, Jung's Answer to Job, and Erikson's Young Man Luther. All four texts address in significant ways the role of melancholy in religion, says Capps, and he emphasizes that melancholy is central to the authors' ways of understanding religion. Each developed an unconventional or idiosyncratic religious vision in the search for a means to address his psychological loss and to reverse or transcend its effects. Capps assesses the adequacy of each author's religious views, recommends forms of religion best suited to melancholiacs, and also considers the role that a father surrogate can play in helping a young man cope with melancholia, as did Samuel Johnson with James Boswell. ER -