Ludwig Feuerbach
| Ludwig Feuerbach | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
28 July 1804 Landshut, Bavaria |
| Died | 13 September 1872 (aged 68) Rechenberg near Nuremberg, German Empire |
| Alma mater |
University of Heidelberg University of Erlangen (Dr.phil.habil., 1828) |
| Era | 19th-century philosophy |
| Region | Western Philosophy |
| School |
Dialectical materialism Secular humanism |
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Main interests
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Religion, Christianity |
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Notable ideas
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Religion as the outward projection of human inner nature |
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Influences
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Influenced
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Ludwig Andreas von Feuerbach (28 July 1804 – 13 September 1872) was a German philosopher 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 Friedrich Engels.
An associate of Left Hegelian circles, Feuerbach advocated liberalism, atheism, and materialism. Many of his philosophical writings offered a critical analysis of religion. His thought was influential in the development of historical materialism, where he is often recognized as a bridge between Hegel and Marx.
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. Feuerbach's other brothers were almost all distinguished in scholarship or science:
He also had three sisters:
Feuerbach matriculated in the University of Heidelberg with the intention of pursuing a career in the church. Through the influence of Prof. Karl Daub he was led to an interest in the then predominant philosophy of Hegel and, in spite of his father's opposition, enrolled in the University of Berlin in order to study under the master himself. After 2 years, the Hegelian influence began to slacken. Feuerbach became associated with a group known as the Young Hegelians, alternately known as the Left Hegelians, who synthesized a radical offshoot of Hegelian philosophy, interpreting Hegel's dialectic march of spirit through 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 nature 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 development. He completed his education at Erlangen, at the University of Erlangen with the study of natural science. He earned his habilitation from Erlangen on 25 July 1828 with his thesis De ratione una, universali, infinita (The Infinity, Unity and Universality of Reason).
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