Paul Vitz

Paul C. Vitz (born August 27, 1935) is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at New York University, whose work focuses on the relationship between psychology and Christianity.

Career and works

Vitz is a native of Toledo, Ohio. He graduated with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 1957 and with a Ph.D. in Psychology from Stanford University in 1962.

Vitz analysed atheism and believes there is a link between fatherlessness and anti-theism, as he proposes in his book Faith of the Fatherless, the Psychology of Atheism (1999). The thesis of Faith of the Fatherless holds that famous believers—e.g., Blaise Pascal, Edmund Burke, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Karl Barth, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer—had strong and loving fathers, whereas their atheistic counterparts—e.g., Karl Marx, Joseph Stalin, Sigmund Freud, Mao Zedong, and Adolf Hitler—all had fathers who were weak, unloving, or absent. Thus, he says, philosophers, professors, and political tyrants who denounce God do so in order to relive traumatic childhood experiences and to subconsciously seek out help rather than to explore any sort of valid or respectable reasoning process.

Personal life

In an autobiographical section of Faith of the Fatherless, Vitz says that his own atheism as a young academic derived more from social conformity and a career need than from any damaged relationship with his father. In his view, his positive relationship with his father probably helped him to get past his temporary atheism and convert to the Catholic faith.^[1][2]

Publications

• Vitz, Paul C. (1977). Psychology as religion : the cult of self-worship. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. ISBN 0802816967. 
• Vitz, Paul C.; Glimcher, Arnold B. (1983). Modern art and modern science : the parallel analysis of vision. New York, N.Y.: Praeger. ISBN 0030624665. 
• Vitz, Paul C. (1986). Censorship : evidence of bias in our children's textbooks. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Servant Books. ISBN 089283305X. 
• Vitz, Paul C. (1988). Sigmund Freud's Christian unconscious. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 0898626730. 
• Vitz, Paul C. (2000). Faith of the fatherless : the psychology of atheism. Dallas: Spence Pub. Co. ISBN 1890626252. 
• Vitz, Paul C.; Felch, Susan M., eds. (2006). The self : beyond the postmodern crisis. Wilmington, De.: ISI Books. ISBN 1932236864. 

See also

• Postmodern psychology

External links

• Paul C. Vitz Resource Center

References

1. ↑ Father Brian Van Hove, S.J. (2007-12-21). "Atheism and Fatherlessness - A Review of Paul Vitz's "Faith of the Fatherless"". Ignatius Insight. Retrieved 2015-05-08. 
2. ↑ "Paul Vitz - Catholic Answers". catholic.com. Retrieved 2015-05-08.