Sigmund Freud’s explanation of religion and faith can be summed up as a man-made creation from our constant search for pleasure. Freud continually refers to this as the “pleasure principle” whenever mentioning a value or significance that a common human act might have. He first describes how religion stems from humans who have a sense of “eternity”, rather than expecting this life to be all there is. Without this feeling, religion has no effect on the pleasure principle, and so the human will look toward other ways to create pleasure.

He then explains religion to be a result of ego. Depending on a person’s past experiences, a person will associate certain worldly things as complimentary to his or her own ego. This is experienced when one finds himself in-love with something or someone, and “declares that ‘I’ and ‘you’ are one” (pg. 724). Freud then goes on to compare the continuity as well as the evolution of one’s ego to the evolution of earthly species and the building and rebuilding of Rome. This is to emphasize the expanse and complication which is ascribed to a person’s ego.

In the second chapter, Freud discusses how humans try to escape suffering, introducing three ways that people do this. These are “powerful deflections,… substitutive satisfactions,… and intoxicating substances” (pg. 728). Then it is suggested that life does not involve simply finding pleasure, but also trying to avoid “unpleasure”. He then continues on to the explanation of intoxicating substances. He not only mentions this as something we consume externally, but also references that we have some similar chemicals within our own body. He suggests some faiths attempt to bring about these substances through its practices of meditation.

It is mentioned that happiness can be brought on by the satisfaction of human instincts. However, a different approach is to cut off instincts altogether, developing a oneness with the universe. Still, Freud equates this supposed happiness with no more than an acquisition of “quietness” (pg. 731).

At one point, Freud describes a practice of religion as a way of reaching happiness as a delusion, or even a result from a state of psychosis. If a conclusion can be drawn from this assertion, it could be said the he thinks that a rational and healthy human would not create this type of institution, especially to the point in which this institution attempts to purge the rest of the living world from ways that it deems incorrect. Further on, Freud mentions how the concept of beauty gives us a minor happiness. This also stems from our original concept of beauty, which is of a sexual nature. We obtain the most pleasure from sexual activity, so it is deemed natural for any human to pursue the attractions that they deem pleasurable.