FEUERBACH Ludwig

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-72), German philosopher. Originally a follower of Hegel, then (1839) criticized his philosophy. In the center of Feuerbach's philosophy - people are treated as a biological being, the abstract individual (cm. Anthropologism). Religion is interpreted as the alienation of the human spirit, the source of which - a sense of man's dependence on natural forces of nature and society. The basis of morality saw in human pursuit of happiness, attainable through a 'religion of love' (human unity, the relationship I and Thou). Major works: 'Critique of Hegel's philosophy' (1839), 'The Essence of Christianity' (1841), 'Fundamentals of Philosophy of the Future' (1843), 'The Essence of Religion' (1851).