Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (July 28, 1804 September 13, 1872) was a German phi

losopher and anthropologist best known for his book The Essence of Christianity, which provided a critique of Christianity which strongly influenced generations of later thinkers, including both Karl Marx and Frederich Engels. Feuerbach was the fourth son of the eminent jurist Paul Johann Anselm Ritter von Feuerbach, brother of mathematician Karl Wilhelm Feuerbach and uncle of painter Anselm Feuerbach.[1] An associate of Left Hegelian circles, Feuerbach advocated for liberalism, atheism and materialism. Many of his philosophical writings off ered a critical analysis of religion. His thought was influential in the develop ment of dialectical materialism,[2] where he is often recognized as a bridge bet ween Hegel and Marx.[3] Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Education 1.2 Early writings 1.3 Das Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity) 1.4 After "1848" 1.5 Philosophy 1.6 Influence 2 Works 3 See also 4 References 5 External links Biography Education Feuerbach matriculated in the University of Heidelberg with the intention of pur suing a career in the church.[citation needed] Through the influence of Prof. Ka rl Daub he was led to an interest in the then predominant philosophy of Hegel an d, in spite of his father's opposition, enrolled in the University of Berlin in order to study under the master himself. After 22 years, the Hegelian influence began to slacken. Feuerbach became associated with a group known as the Young He gelians, alternately known as the Left Hegelians, who synthesized a radical offs hoot of Hegelian philosophy, interpreting Hegel's dialectic march of spirit thro ugh history to mean that existing Western culture and institutional forms and, in particular, Christianity would be superseded. "Theology," he wrote to a friend, "I can bring myself to study no more. I long to take nature to my heart, that natu re before whose depth the faint-hearted theologian shrinks back; and with nature man, man in his entire quality." These words are a key to Feuerbach's developme nt. He completed his education at Erlangen, at the Friedrich-Alexander-Universit y, Erlangen-Nuremberg with the study of natural science. Early writings His first book, published anonymously, Gedanken ?ber Tod und Unsterblichkeit (18 30), contains an attack on personal immortality and an advocacy of the Spinozist ic immortality of reabsorption in nature. These principles, combined with his em barrassed manner of public speaking, debarred him from academic advancement. Aft er some years of struggling, during which he published his Geschichte der neuere n Philosophie (2 vols., 1833 1837, 2nd ed. 1844), and Abelard und Heloise (1834, 3 rd ed. 1877), he married in 1837 and lived a rural existence at Bruckberg near N uremberg, supported by his wife's share in a small porcelain factory. In two works of this period, Pierre Bayle (1838) and Philosophie und Christentum (1839), which deal largely with theology, he held that he had proven "that Chri stianity has in fact long vanished not only from the reason but from the life of mankind, that it is nothing more than a fixed idea."

Das Wesen des Christentums (The Essence of Christianity) His most important work, Das Wesen des Christentums (1841), was translated by Ge orge Eliot into English as The Essence of Christianity. Feuerbach's theme was a derivation of Hegel's speculative theology in which the Creation remains a part of the Creator, while the Creator remains greater than t he Creation. When the student Feuerbach presented his own theory to professor He gel, Hegel refused to reply positively to it. In part I of his book Feuerbach developed what he calls the "true or anthropolog ical essence of religion." Treating of God in his various aspects "as a being of the understanding," "as a moral being or law," "as love" and so on. Feuerbach t alks of how humankind is equally a conscious being, more so than God because hum ans have placed upon God the ability of understanding. Humans contemplate many t hings and in doing so they become acquainted with themselves. Feuerbach shows th at in every aspect God corresponds to some feature or need of human nature. As h e states, "In the consciousness of the infinite, the conscious subject has for h is object the infinity of his own nature." Instead, Feuerbach concludes, "If man is to find contentment in God," he claims, "he must find himself in God." Thus God is nothing else than human: he is, so to speak, the outward projection of a human's inward nature. This projection is dubbed as a chimaera by Feuerbach , that God and the idea of a higher being is dependent upon the aspect of benevo lence. Feuerbach states that, a God who is not benevolent, not just, not wise, is no God, and continues to say that qualities are not suddenly denoted as divine b ecause of their godly association. The qualities themselves are divine therefore making God divine, indicating that humans are capable of understanding and appl ying meanings of divinity to religion and not that religion makes a human divine . The force of this attraction to religion though, giving divinity to a figure lik e God, is explained by Feuerbach as God is a being that acts throughout humans i n all forms. God, is the principle of [man's] salvation, of [man's] good disposit ions and actions, consequently [man's] own good principle and nature. It appeals to humankind to give qualities to the idol of their religion because without the se qualities a figure such as God would become merely an object, its importance would become obsolete, there would no longer be a feeling of an existence for Go d. Therefore, Feuerbach says, when humans remove all qualities from God, God is n o longer anything more to him than a negative being. Additionally, because humans are imaginative, God is given traits and there holds the appeal. God is a part of a human through the invention of a God. Equally though, humans are repulsed b y God because, God alone is the being who acts of himself. In part 2 he discusses the "false or theological essence of religion," i.e. the view which regards God as having a separate existence over against humankind. He nce arise various mistaken beliefs, such as the belief in revelation which he be lieves not only injures the moral sense, but also "poisons, nay destroys, the di vinest feeling in man, the sense of truth," and the belief in sacraments such as the Lord's Supper, which is to him a piece of religious materialism of which "t he necessary consequences are superstition and immorality." A caustic criticism of Feuerbach was delivered in 1844 by Max Stirner. In his bo ok Der Einzige und sein Eigentum (The Ego and His Own), he attacked Feuerbach as inconsistent in his atheism. The pertinent portions of the books, Feuerbach's r eply, and Stirner's counter-reply form an instructive polemics. (see External Li nks) After "1848" During the troubles of 1848-1849 Feuerbach's attack upon orthodoxy made him some

thing of a hero with the revolutionary party; but he never threw himself into th e political movement, and indeed lacked the qualities of a popular leader. Durin g the period of the Frankfurt Congress he had given public lectures on religion at Heidelberg. When the diet closed he withdrew to Bruckberg and occupied himsel f partly with scientific study, partly with the composition of his Theogonie (18 57). In 1860 he was compelled by the failure of the porcelain factory to leave Bruckb erg, and he would have suffered the extremity of want but for the assistance of friends supplemented by a public subscription. His last book, Gottheit, Freiheit und Unsterblichkeit, appeared in 1866 (2nd ed., 1890). In 1868 he read the firs t volume of Marx's Capital and joined the Social-Democratic Party.[4] After a lo ng period of decline, he died on September 13, 1872. He is buried in Johannis-Fr iedhof Cemetery in Nuremberg, which is also where the artist Albrecht D?rer is i nterred. Philosophy Essentially the thought of Feuerbach consisted in a new interpretation of religi on's phenomena, giving an anthropological explanation. Following Schleiermacher s theses, Feuerbach thought religion was principally a matter of feeling in its un restricted subjectivity. So the feeling breaks through all the limits of underst anding and manifests itself in several religious beliefs. But, beyond the feelin g, is the fancy, the true maker of projections of "Gods" and of the sacred in ge neral. Influence Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels were strongly influenced by Feuerbach's atheism, though they criticised him for his inconsistent espousal of materialism.[2] Works De ratione una, universali, infinita (1828). Ghent. Gedanken ?ber Tod und Unsterblichkeit (1830). Geschichte der neuern Philosophie von Bacon von Verulam bis Benedict Spinoza . Ansbach: C. Br?gel. 1833. Retrieved 2012-02-05. Ab?lard und Heloise, Oder Der Schriftsteller und der Mensch (1834). Kritik des Anti-Hegels (1835). 2nd edition, 1844. University of Michigan; Un iversity of Wisconsin.[clarification needed] Geschichte der Neuern Philosophie; Darstellung, Entwicklung und Kritik der L eibniz'schen Philosophie (1837). University of Wisconsin. Pierre Bayle (1838). University of California. ?ber Philosophie und Christenthum (1839). Das Wesen des Christenthums (1841). 2nd edition, 1848. Das Wesen des Christe ntums. (English) The Essence of Christianity (1854). Tr. Marian Evans. St. Mary 's. 2nd edition, 1881. Oxford. Grunds?tze der Philosophie der Zukunft (1843). Gallica. Vorl?ufige Thesen zur Reform der Philosophie (1843). Das Wesen des Glaubens im Sinne Luther's (1844). Harvard. Das Wesen der Religion (1846). 2nd edition, 1849. Stanford. Erl?uterungen und Erg?nzungen zum Wesen des Christenthums (1846). Ludwig Feuerbach's s?mmtliche Werke (1846 1866). Volume 1, 1846. Gallica; NYPL. Volume 2, 1846. Gallica. Volume 3, 1847. Gallica; NYPL. 1876, Oxford. Volume 4, 1847. Gallica; Oxford. Volume 5, 1848. Gallica; NYPL. Volume 6, 1848. Gallica; NYPL. Volume 7, 1849. Gallica; Oxford. Volume 8, 1851. Gallica; NYPL. Volume 9, 1857. Gallica; NYPL.

Volume 10, 1866. Gallica; NYPL. Ludwig Feuerbach in seinem Briefwechsel und Nachlass (1874). 2 volumes. Oxfo rd. Vol. 1. NYPL. Vol. 2. NYPL. Briefwechsel zwischen Ludwig Feuerbach und Christian Kapp (1876). Harvard; O xford. See also Portal icon Atheism portal

Theses on Feuerbach by Karl Marx (1845).MIA. Philosophical anthropology References ^ Harvey, Van A., "Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach", The Stanford Encyclopedia of P hilosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.ed u/archives/win2008/entries/ludwig-feuerbach/, Section 1. Ludwig Feuerbach's other brothers were almost all distinguished in scholarsh ip or science: Joseph Anselm Feuerbach (1798 1851), archeology and philology; his son was the painter Anselm Feuerbach (1829 1880) Eduard August Feuerbach (1803 1843), jurisprudence Friedrich Heinrich Feuerbach (1806 1880), philology and philosophy He also had three sisters: Rebekka Magdalena "Helene" Feuerbach von Dobeneck (1808 1891) Leonore Feuerbach (1809 1885) Elise Feuerbach (1813 1883) ^ a b Feuerbach, Ludwig at marxists.org Glossary. Accessed October 2007. ^ Harvey, Van A., "Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach", The Stanford Encyclopedia of P hilosophy (Winter 2008 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), http://plato.stanford.ed u/archives/win2008/entries/ludwig-feuerbach/. ^ N?rnberger Nachrichten, Wed. July 28, 2004, Kulturteil p. 1. See also Van A. Harvey, et al. Feuerbach and the Interpretation of Religion (Studies in Religion and Critical Thought), 1997. Marxism explained: materialism John Minns at Socialist Alternative. looks at Feuerbach's influence on Marx and Engels. Accessed October 2007 Warren Breckman, Marx, the Young Hegelians and the Origins of Social Theory: Dethroning the Self, New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999. [1] Ludwig Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity in Religion and Liberal Culture, ed. Keith Michael Baker, vol. 8 of University of Chicago Readings in Western Ci vilization, ed. John W. Boyer and Julius Kirshner (Chicago: University of Chicag o Press, 1987), 323-336. Wikisource Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Feuerbach, Ludwig Andreas". Encyclop ?dia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. External links