Mini-Summary of Materialist doctrine
Most people "assume" psychology and science has been objective in their analyses of religious beliefs and spirituality. That simply isn't true. In a nutshell what happened is that the Scientific Revolution introduced the 'norm' that a 'supernatural being' is "superstitious nonsense." What very few realized is that "materialism" piggy-backed on the scientific revolution, with very few realizing what happened. Materialist psychologists took the 'obsession' "measurable," "quantifiable," and the physical-physiological aspect of the human mind to incredible excesses and produced the 'norm' that "All spirituality is "superstitious nonsense."
First, the materialist doctrine emphasizes to excess the principles of quantification and measurement. While many social scientists only too often take that as gospel, Albert Einstein, Carl Jung, as well as William James argued that there is much in human consciousness, such as right and wrong, justice, freedom, creativity, not to mention divine which are beyond measurement and quantification. Furthermore most psychologists involved in the study of emotions like Solomon, or Kay Deaux - who noted that social psychologists exclude emotions from their studies because of their total focus on laboratory experiments which necessarily excludes emotions since, as most psychologists know, emotions have a subjective characteristic which makes them un-objective in any absolute sense. That being said, again and again I have psychologists and neuroscientists often insist obstinately that all human consciousness is totally and completely measurable - or it doesn't exist. So, I guess besides spirit (which actually is measurable), "Love," "Freedom," "right and wrong" (which would be less measurable than spirit, in my view) all do not exist and are "superstitious nonsense."
In a nutshell, what happened is that the "materialist doctrine" became the dominant force in mainstream psychology. And what happened in a pragmatic and worldly sense is that "mainstream psychology which had a materialist bias" then "assumed" that not only the idea of a 'supernatural being' is "superstitious nonsense" but that furthermore [all] spirituality is not measurable and therefore "All spirituality is "superstitious nonsense." The schools of thought that included and embraced spirituality such as Jungian psychology, logotherapy (based on Frankl's psychology), existential and positive psychology, as well as the relatively new transpersonal psychology were marginalized and minimalized.
The Origins of the Materialist Philosophy
Everyone, of course, has heard of the Scientific Revolution. The Scientific Revolution began near the end of the Renaissance, sometimes connected with the publication of Copernicus' 1543 astronomy book. The Scientific Revolution later gave rise to the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Reason was an intellectual and philosophical movement - or revolution - that dominated the world of ideas during the 1700's, which, played a significant role in giving birth to European democracy and the American Revolution, as well. the very influential thinker John Locke produced his social contract theory and Locke's ideas of "natural rights" became a powerful influence and factor in the drafting of the American Declaration of Independence, as well as the French, Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. It would be self-evident that reason was a dominating influence in the Scientific Revolution as well as the Age of Enlightenment.
However, not many people seem to be aware that with the Scientific Revolution, came a way of "materialist" thinking and a "mechanistic-materialist philosophy", as it were. Reason is one thing, a bias for mechanistic-materialist explanations and theories - which exclude altogether spirituality, meaning, and even to some extent the ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence inspired in part, ironically, by the Age of Reason - is another thing entirely. In my view, materialism, on the face of it would appear to me to be pretty much irrational and totally lacking in reason. While physics, with the arrival of the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics, the science of physics moved beyond what might be called "billiard ball" physics and a strict materialist view, a materialist bias and outlook appear to be seriously entrenched in the "science" of psychology.
The maverick scientist, Rupert Sheldrake, explains the origins of materialist science and psychology: “The rising influence of mechanistic science accelerated this process from the seventeenth century onward. God was removed from the workings of nature, now seen as inanimate, unconscious, and mechanical, functioning automatically.” (p.155) Carl Jung expressed the influence of materialist thinking another way: "Epistemological criticism was on the one hand an expression of the modesty of medieval man, and on the other a renunciation of, or abdication from, the spirit of God, and consequently a modern extension and reinforcement of human consciousness within the limits of reason." (CW8 - 359) So, the rise of science and reason brought with it a materialist-mechanistic bias which the French philosopher Rene Guennon argued began with Descartes writing about mathematics, science, and philosophy. The materialist approach included a bias toward physiological based research and explanations, as Carl Jung pointed out on occasion, as well as a tendency to avoid dealing with the metaphysical and intangible characteristics of human consciousness.
Carl Jung emphasized that “The modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations” effectively leads to the elimination of all metaphysical and spiritual aspects of human consciousness. The pervasive influence of materialist thinking in science and society was propelled, in part, as I pointed out, by the perception of many thinkers and scientists that the concept of a Transcendent Spirit - or Supernatural Being - was, on the face of it, irrational and contrary to reason and rational thought - so "superstitious nonsense." But, as I emphasized before, what happened is that the "materialist doctrine" - with it's obsessive emphasis on the "primacy of physical explanations" - for all practical purposes over-rode "scientific and empirical methodology" by taking the physical factor out of context and furthermore tacking on an "assumption" (which is all it is) that "All spirituality is not measurable and thus that All spirituality is completely "superstitious nonsense."
Today's Reality of Materialism: Morton Hall's - The Story of Psychology
You know Spirituality is a problem in Psychology, when you review "The Story of Psychology," which is a 700 plus page complete 'History of Psychology' textbook, which was written by Morton Hall, a well-known and prolific author on the subject of psychology (Anc hor Books, 2007), and, while there are a few references to soul (mostly archaic), I did not find a single reference to either meaning, spirit, spirituality, or even religion. It is a comprehensive review of psychology over the course of the history of psychology - from Greek philosophers to modern psychologists. And it is clear that Morton Hall deliberately and methodically removed any reference to spirit or spirituality in any form or fashion whatsoever. And in looking at what is taught it is appears readily apparent that like Morton hall did in his comprehensive History of Psychology, mainstream psychology has for all practical purposes, wiped "spirit and spirituality" in any relevant form completely off the face of the academic world.
It seems a bit hypocritical that Morton Hall extensively the Greek philosophers, such as Alemaeon, Protagoras, Democritus, Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle, as well as Theophratus, the Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics, and so on, and turn around and completely omit Viktor Frankl. Almost all the people that I talk to, who have read Frankl’s classic work, Man's Search for Meaning , usually tell me that they were impressed by some of Frankl's insights into the workings of human consciousness and human life that he makes. A bipolar woman from my old high school, Andover, said, quite frankly, that Viktor Frankl's classic work, Man's Search for Meaning literally saved her life. Logotherapy is a type of psychoanalysis based on Frankl's principle that the human being's "Will to Meaning" is the primary drive of humans. A logotherapist related that, after Frankl established logotherapy practice in Vienna, that suicide disappeared altogether, for a time. Logotherapy is practiced in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, as well as Europe, so Frankl would be thousands of times more relevant to psychology today than all the past Greek philosophers put together. I should briefly mention that when I spoke with the psychology major, as I recall, she didn't really key into Frankl as having much importance or significance.
Furthermore, the complete absence of any reference to meaning might appear a bit ironic, especially in light of modern psychologists work on the Need for Meaning, that although Morton Hall noted that Aristotle was the origin for the word "psyche" as the seat of thinking and the location for thought processes (a concept which Carl Jung later adapted), it seems Morton Hall did overlook the fact that Aristotle was actually, in truth, the first 'Great Thinker' to acknowledge the importance and significance of the human Need for Meaning when he stated "Men desire knowledge!"
Frankl, one of the few psychologists-psychoanalysts who truly advocated spirituality was completely eliminated from Morton Hall's comprehensive review of the history of psychology, altogether. It is really a shame. Frankl was a genius, whose major contribution was his concept of man's "Will to Meaning" which he argued was the primary drive in human beings. Frankl also offered many brilliant insights. Viktor Frankl is widely regarded as one of the major drives - or founding fathers - of the contemporary existential and positive schools of thought in psychology. In a number of conversations, numerous people have observed that they found Viktor Frankl's classic work, Man's Search for Meaning very helpful in understanding themselves and life. A bipolar woman from my high school told me that Viktor Frankl's classic work, Man's Search for Meaning, quite literally saved her life.Morton Hall also marginalized Carl Jung, who also advocated spirituality. Furthermore Morton Hall completely eliminated William James' rather important contribution to the understanding of spirituality and religion. On top of that Morton Hall also utterly eliminated existential and positive psychology - which has done substantial studies and research in spirituality and meaning. I would also comment from talking to psychology professors as well as a Towson University psychology major in her last semester and from doing a precursory overview of courses offered and professors' specialties, it seemed pretty clear, in my mind, that Maryland Universities' curriculum mirrors to a large extent Morton Hall's materialist bias in his comprehensive review of the 'History of Psychology.' The bottom line for me is that there is not a psychology professor in any of the Maryland Universities who I can talk to about spirituality. I could find no courses in spirituality (even though Dr. Koenig stated that 1/2 of the medical universities now offer courses in spirituality - Johns Hopkins not being one of them), and no courses in Jungian or Franklian psychology either.
Furthermore, a very intelligent psychology major at a local Maryland University, who I spoke with, had not heard of the Need for Meaning which is advocated by a large number of the 'greats' from Aristotle, to Viktor Frankl, Carl Jung, Roy Baumeister, Clifford Geertz, Paul Wong, most existential-positive psychologists today, not to mention Carl Sagan, Albert Einstein, and the Jewish theologian Heschel all of whom advocate the vital importance of a sense of wonder - which of course drive the Need for Meaning.
From my research, the best analyses of spirituality and religious beliefs were done by William James, Viktor Frankl, and Carl Jung. Morton Hall omitted Viktor Frankl totally, marginalized Carl Jung, and left out William James' work on spirituality and religious beliefs. On top of that Morton Hall completely eliminated all of positive and existential psychology altogether. It is really a true waste. The existential and positive psychologists’ studies of meaning convincingly demonstrate that meaning in peoples’ lives contributes not only to their sense of well-being as well as their mental and physical health. They also did substantial research into the importance and role of spirituality. Throwing out all that important research and knowledge obtained by existential and positive psychology is really such an incredible waste.
“The “modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations”
As Carl Jung succinctly explained it, in 1933, “The “modern belief in the primacy of physical explanations” effectively leads to the elimination of all metaphysical and spiritual aspects of human consciousness. The truth of it is, science and psychology has, without question, attached a "superstition stigma" to all of spirituality - completely and totally. In retrospect, it is clear that a few of the "objective" and "scientific" materialist psychologists deliberately undermined and sabotaged spirituality and religious beliefs because of their personal opinions and feelings - and other materialist psychologists let their personal opinions sway their judgment in a very subjective and unscientific way.
The spirituality of Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi, Tolstoy, or Mother Teresa might no be more important and more valuable than transcendental spirituality, as it were. Much of the writing about spirituality and religion does seem to focus on transcendental Spirit and spirituality. In passing I might mention that the famous psychoanalyst Erik Erickson wrote books about two significant spiritual leaders, Gandhi and Martin Luther, yet somehow managed to to write two entire books about these two prominent spiritual leaders without once mentioning the word "spirit" or "spirituality." Now THAT is neurotic!
Totally eliminating All spirituality, as materialist psychology has done, in my view, is most definitely Not a reasonable proposition. It is readily apparent that materialist psychology is utterly devoid of spirituality and horrifically deficient in addressing the metaphysical not to mention the mystical aspects of human consciousness. would appear to lack "balance," as it were. Perhaps the Star War movies were prophetic and indeed, it is true that, "We must bring balance to the Force!"
Psychology of Religion Failed to Follow Scientific Method
Part of this resulted from a failure of the 'Psychology of Religion' to follow scientific method as laid out by Aristotle over two thousand years ago, which Aristotle defined as: 1. Gather the facts 2. Categorize the facts 3. Analyze the data 4. Draw conclusions.
Here are two brief illustrations that psychologists did not categorize. First even a precursory overview of human history reveals that religion, and religious-spiritual beliefs have been a dominant factor in human society for tens of thousands of years and as Durkheim argues been a very influential force in the creation of society. It would seem an inescapable conclusion then that there exists a very powerful and fundamental drive to evolve, develop, and grow which is without question either connected with or closely associated with spiritual and religious beliefs and [largely unconscious] spiritual processes. Secondly, another important category psychologists missed is the category of the spirituality of civic activists like Martin Luther King Jr., or Gandhi, or Tolstoy. Then of course there is the category of care-givers and volunteers such as Mother Teresa, Dr. Sweitzer, Doctors without Borders, and thousands of other volunteers throughout the world who are compassionate care-givers. Now you cannot tell me all these categories are not measurable or "superstitious nonsense." In spite of this,
Academia, the science of psychology, and many of the intelligentsia of society appear to have adopted the materialist view as the accepted and orthodox reality - that all spirituality is "superstitious nonsense. If one thing is clear it is the fact that materialist psychology - which is completely different form true science has divided Western civilization and it seems, especially, American society like nothing has ever done before.