Ludwig Feuerbach
God is the image man makes of himself, projected outside himself.
Life
German philosopher (1804-1872), a student of Hegel and then his critic. In The Essence of Christianity he argues that God is a projection of human nature (its qualities imagined as infinite) and that religion, rather than revealing an external being, reveals man to himself. His materialist humanism strongly influenced Marx and the modern critique of religion.
Main works
God is human essence projected outside man.
He inverts Hegel: thought comes from being, not the reverse.
A philosophy that starts from the sensuous human being, not from Spirit.
In his own words
« Religion is the dream of the human mind. »
Die Religion ist der Traum des menschlichen Geistes.
« God is the manifested inner nature, the expressed self of man; religion is the solemn unveiling of man's hidden treasures. »
Gott ist das offenbare Innere, das ausgesprochne Selbst des Menschen; die Religion die feierliche Enthüllung der verborgnen Schätze des Menschen
Positions
click a row to see the evidenceGod is human nature projected outside and worshiped; theology is really anthropology.
Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (1841)
Only what is given to the senses is real; truth, reality and sensuousness are the same thing.
Feuerbach, Principles of the Philosophy of the Future (1843)
Thought depends on the sensing body; he rejects the mind as a substance separate from the body.
Feuerbach, Principles of the Philosophy of the Future (1843)
Religion is explained by human needs and feelings, so reason can judge it and recover its human content.
Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (1841)
The human essence, made of reason, will and love, is infinite in the species and can be fulfilled in community.
Feuerbach, The Essence of Christianity (1841)