Transformation in Psychoanalysis and Religion as “Persons in Relationship”: The Influence of John Macmurray

Abstract

This article details the philosophical and theological impact of John Macmurray on the Independent Tradition of British Object Relations as it pertains to transformation in both psychoanalysis and religion. Parallels between Macmurray's philosophy and the psychoanalytic perspectives of Ronald Fairbairn, Donald Winnicott, and Harry Guntrip are compared in terms of a shared emphasis on the centrality of relationships between persons. It concludes with a psychoanalytic case illustrating this relational emphasis with a religious patient.

Notes

Based upon Dobbs, Trevor (in press). Faith, Theology, and Psychoanalysis: The Life and Thought of Harry S. Guntrip. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock Publishers (Used by permission).