Knowra Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Feuerbach Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) was a German philosopher who argued that human beings project their own nature onto God. His critique of religion influenced Karl Marx and other nineteenth-century thinkers.
Projection (psychology) : A psychological process in which a person attributes their own feelings or qualities to someone else. Feuerbach recast religious belief as humanity projecting its own powers onto God.
The Essence of Christianity : Feuerbach’s 1841 book arguing that Christian theology expresses human qualities in an imagined divine being. This work gives his best-known, sustained account of religious projection.
Karl Marx : A German philosopher, economist, and revolutionary socialist whose writings shaped modern communism. Marx adopted Feuerbach’s critique of religion, then faulted it for neglecting social practice.
Theses on Feuerbach : Marx’s 1845 notes criticizing Feuerbach and arguing that materialism must account for human activity and social change. Marx’s concise critique identifies both Feuerbach’s influence and the limits Marx saw in it.
Dialectical idealism : Hegel’s philosophical approach, in which reality develops through the dialectical movement of reason or spirit. Feuerbach opposed explaining humanity through spirit and instead emphasized human beings themselves.
Anthropology : The study of human beings, societies, cultures, and their development. Feuerbach proposed that anthropology could explain ideas theology treated as divine.
Religious projection : The attribution of human ideals, needs, or powers to a divine being. Feuerbach treats this attribution as the basic operation behind religious belief.
Friedrich Engels : A German philosopher and socialist who collaborated with Karl Marx and developed Marxist theory. Engels later described Feuerbach’s impact on the Young Hegelians and Marx’s generation.
The German Ideology : An unfinished 1845–1846 work by Marx and Engels criticizing Young Hegelian philosophy and developing historical materialism. Marx and Engels make Feuerbach a central target while revising his materialist break with Hegel.
Practical materialism : A materialist approach that treats human activity and social practice as forces shaping thought and society. Marx’s alternative answers his charge that Feuerbach described human beings but not their transformative activity.
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