Sin and Virtue in the works of Freud and Dante Essay -- essays researc

Religion is arguably most influential when concerning politics, society, and singularity. This teaching system provides most people with somewhat of a guideline on how to live their lives on a daily basis, depending on which religion one follows. One of the major underlying aspects of religion, Catholicism or Christianity in particular, is to battle array guilt or sorrow to God for ones own sins and to ask for forgiveness on Earth so when Judgment Day comes the gates of heaven bequeath open. A follower of Christianity is expected to follow the divine doctrine (e.g. The Ten Commandments) and any deviation requires repentance. If one does not ask for forgiveness for his sins, the common belief is that he will be sent to Hell upon death, spending an eternity in damnation. But how does this affect life on Earth? It seems that the individual harbors an inwrought battle between acting on instinctual desires and what is deemed right or wrong according to God. This self-war creates a se nse of guilt. Guilt and sin are closely tie in to one another in terms of Sigmund Freuds analysis of religion in civilization and can be further compared to Dantes account of sin and the futurity. In refining and Its Discontents, one of Freud?s main purposes is to point out the effect of the relationship between the human conscience and religion. Freud?s central view of religion is that it is an delusion created, and even needed, by man to attain a sense of security from ?an enormously exalted father? who watches over his life and promises a better afterlife (Freud 22). Individually, humans portray with behavior what their motivation in life is to attain happiness. But religion only offers one road to happiness, and that road is done God. ?Its tech... ...ness, heightens the demands of his conscience, imposes abstinences on himself and punishes himself with penances? (Freud 87). The same can be said according to Dante, but instead of turning to the superego, one turns to God as Dante did while he was ? scattered in the dark wood?. An individual looks for a way of escaping these disparaging emotions and searches for a path that will lead to ultimate happiness?usually through and with God. As the purpose of Dante?s Inferno was to understand sin in a way that will allow him to lead a more stainless life, so was Freud?s theory that the more aware of your guilt the more able you are to recognize what it means to be virtuous. The more aware an individual is of his sin or guilt, the better his ability to repent and achieve virtuosity. This in turn makes peace with God and/or within him and it is here that one achieves redemption.