The Unconscious God

The Unconscious God

Cover of the 1949 German edition
Author	Viktor E. Frankl
Original title	Der Unbewußte Gott
Language	German
Subject	Logotherapy
Publisher	Simon & Schuster
Publication date	1949
Media type	Print (Paperback)
Pages	161
ISBN	978-0671220990
Preceded by	The Doctor and the Soul

The Unconscious God (German : Der Unbewußte Gott) is a 1949 book by Viktor E. Frankl, the Viennese psychiatrist and founder of Logotherapy. The book was the subject of his dissertation for a Ph.D. in philosophy in 1948. ^[1]

The Unconscious God is an examination of the relation of psychology and religion.

Key ideas

The term "the unconscious God" refers to a "hidden relationship with the hidden God". ^[2]

In his work, Frankl advocates for the use of the Socratic dialogue or "self-discovery discourse" to be used with clients to get in touch with their "Noetic" (or spiritual) unconscious. ^[3]

Human religiousness is a deeply individual decision, and aligns with the process of discovering meaning in even the most difficult of situations.

In comparing Protestant ministers and parishioners, Frankl contends that a mature involvement with a religious group increases the sense of purpose in life. ^[4]

Published editions

Frankl's book was originally published as Der Unbewußte Gott ^[5] by Ehrlich Schmidt in 1949; the English language version was published by Simon & Schuster in 1975 under the title The Unconscious God: Psychotherapy and Theology.

References

1. Boeree, George. "Personality Theories: Viktor Frankl." Shippensburg University. Accessed April 18, 2014.
2. Fuller, Andrew Reid. Psychology and religion: Eight points of view. Rowman & Littlefield, 1994.
3. Lantz, James E. "Family logotherapy." Contemporary Family Therapy 8, no. 2 (1986): 124-135.
4. Weinstein, Lawrence, and Charalambos C. Cleanthous. "A comparison of protestant ministers and parishioners on expressed purpose in life and intrinsic religious motivation." Psychology: A Journal of Human Behavior (1996).
5. Moore, Hallie E. "The Unconscious God: Psychotherapy and Theology." American Journal of Psychiatry 134, no. 11 (1977): 1317-b.