Joseph Murphy (esotericist)

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Joseph Murphy (* 20th May 1898 in Ireland ; † 15. December 1981 in Laguna Hills , California ) was an Irish writer in the New Thought movement , with Christian - pantheistic background.

Life

Joseph Murphy emigrated to the United States in 1922 , where he studied law, philosophy and religious studies and obtained a doctorate. In the mid-1940s he went to Los Angeles, where he met Ernest Holmes , the founder of Religious Science . In 1946 he was ordained Minister of Religious Science by Holmes . Murphy served on the Church of Divine Science in Los Angeles for 28 years . In 1947 he was President of the 32nd Congress of INTA ( International New Thought Alliance ). As an author, he was particularly well known in the 1960s. His main work is the power of your subconscious (1962). In 1976 he settled in Laguna Hills , California, where he died in 1981. Today he is often referred to as the “father of positive thinking ”, but in reality he was only an important representative.

Within the Neugeist movement, Joseph Murphy occupies a special position, not only because he was the most popular author of the same, but also as almost the only representative who rejected the transmigration of souls or reincarnation and took the view that after death there is a person or his spirit forever in another dimension.

Murphy's central statement is that people can influence their subconscious by means of "scientific prayers" ( affirmations , autosuggestions ) in order to steer their entire life in a positive direction. It should be noted here that the term subconscious is understood by Murphy completely differently than the unconscious by Sigmund Freud . Many theses were adopted by Émile Coué , who are themselves rooted in popular scientific theories of the 19th century.

Murphy was extremely reluctant to provide biographical information about himself.

family

Joseph Murphy was born into a religious Catholic family with many children. The father, who was 99 years old and still taught French and Gaelic in old age , was the school principal in the small town of Derrynard in the south of Ireland, where Joseph Murphy grew up.

From the 1940s onwards, Joseph Murphy was increasingly active as a journalist , he wrote countless magazine articles and books (36 in total), and addressed his audience in regular radio programs (including a daily radio and later also television broadcasts).

bestseller

His work " The Power of Your Subconscious " has already seen 65 editions and is still a bestseller.

But his message is different: It is not the subconscious that has the power, but we have the power. We can consciously act on the unconscious. We know many aspects of this power: self-fulfilling prophecy, creative dreaming, autogenic training , "positive thinking" ...

Murphy moves in this series with his autosuggestions. With his work, he wants to convey the possibility of influencing the subconscious in order to become more relaxed, satisfied and successful.

reception

Authors like Vera F. Birkenbihl , Erhard F. Freitag and others still refer to Murphy today . His thesis, based on the Bible, that faith can move mountains, is doubted by empirical scholars, but at the same time asserted by many followers.

criticism

In the context of the scientific criticism of compulsive positive thinking, Joseph Murphy is fundamentally analyzed and empirically refuted by Günter Scheich in his book “Positive Thinking Makes Sick”. Sheikh devotes an entire chapter to Murphy. Sheikh's main point of criticism is Murphy's illusion of science. According to Sheikh, Murphy spreads well-kept half-knowledge. Findings from science, religion, psychology, psychotherapy, medicine and biblical exegesis are arbitrarily blended into a higher truth in Murphy. Murphy ignores the current state of research in the individual subject areas. In part, his statements and conclusions even contradict this. Murphy develops a kind of metaphysics and thus enters an area that can no longer be attacked by empiricism and factual arguments, but in which everything can be said.

In his book “Tele - Psi. The power of your thoughts. ”According to Sheikh, he even goes into the realm of parapsychology , superstition and black magic . In addition, according to Sheikh, it is Murphy who is turning back and trampling the achievements of modern psychology through a completely different definition of the Freudian concept of the subconscious .

Works (selection)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Günter Scheich: Positive thinking makes you sick. About dizziness with dangerous promises of success. 3rd ext. Edition. Dr. Scheich Verlag, Oelde 2013, ISBN 978-3-943632-03-3 .
  2. Günter Scheich: Positive thinking makes you sick. 2013, p. 33f.
  3. Tele - Psi. The power of your thoughts. Heyne, 1998, ISBN 3-453-03002-8 .
  4. Günter Scheich: Positive thinking makes you sick. 2013, p. 40f.