Feuerbach and the Interpretation of Religion (Cambridge Studies in Religion and Critical Thought, Series Number 1)

Ludwig Feuerbach is best known as the author of a sensational criticism of Christianity in the mid-nineteenth century. Although some scholars regard this criticism of Christianity as important in its own right, most view it as pertinent because of its anticipation of the views of Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud. Harvey's book argues that this is an inadequate interpretation of Feuerbach's significance. By exploring works of Feuerbach that have been virtually ignored, he convincingly demonstrates their contemporary relevance. Annotation. Ludwig Feuerbach is traditionally regarded as a significant but transitional figure in the development of nineteenth-century German thought. Readings of Feuerbach's The Essence of Christianity tend to focus on those features which made it seem liberating to the Young Hegelians: namely, its criticism of reification as abstraction, and its interpretation of religion as alienation. In this book, Van Harvey claims that this is a limited and inadequate view of Feuerbach's work, especially of his critique of religion. The author argues that Feuerbach's philosophical development led him to a much more complex and interesting theory of religion which he expounded in works which have been virtually ignored hitherto. By exploring these works, Harvey gives them a significant contemporary re-statement, and brings Feuerbach into conversation with a number of modern theorists of religion Most scholars regard Feuerbach's criticism of Christianity as important because of its anticipation of the views of Nietzsche, Marx and Freud. Van Harvey's long-awaited book argues, controversially, that Feuerbach developed a much more interesting and nuanced theory of religion than has been acknowledged hitherto.