삼위일체적 인간학으로 본 프로이트의 정신분석적 불안 이해 = Freud’s Psychoanalytic Understanding of Anxiety in the Light of Trinitarian Anthropology

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, stress-related adjustment disorders, and schizophrenia are the most frequently diagnosed mental illnesses among people living through the pandemic. Depression and anxiety disorders in particular have been an increasingly diagnosed problem. In the perspective of psychoanalysis, anxiety is a nodal point at which the most various and important problems converge. For example, anxiety is not only a phenomenon in itself, but it can also cause other mental illnesses. This is evidence that the human body and mind are interrelated. The Bible views humanity as a whole person, a unity of spirit [and soul] and body, emphasizing their strength and well being. S. Freud can be considered a psychoanalytic theorist to scientifically demonstrate this biblical view of humanity. His psychosomatic synthesis of the human being led to an in-depth study of the causes of anxiety in the mind and its physical manifestations. Freud argued that the root of anxiety lies in the separation(anxiety) from the longed-for object. In other words, human beings are inherently anxious from within, and healing for anxiety lies in scrutinizing the inner world and confronting the unconscious conflicts. However, the biblical human being is not just a synthesis of mind and body. Rather, humanity was created in the image of God. The prototype of humanity is the Trinitarian God. God is one in the unity of Three Persons. The mode of God’s Being is not inward, but outward(ek-stasis). Freud’s anthropology is introverted, whereas the biblical humanity is externally oriented. The purpose of this study is to critique Freud’s philosophical anthropology as manifested in his theory of anxiety in terms of a theological perspective. In addition, this study intends to combine Freud’s theory of anxiety and theological understanding on anxiety in order to better understand human beings and their anxiety, so that it can develop a more integrated understanding of the health of the human spirit. For the purpose of this project, this paper will first examine Freud’s theory of anxiety as they developed throughout his life, and then, critically review it from a theological perspective.