The Criticism And Transcendence Of Marx To Feuerbach’s Religious View

Religion,an objective social phenomenon,plays a unique role in human’s social life. Ludwig Feuerbach was the last great representative of German classical philosophy,materialist philosopher, anthropologist and atheists. From the humanistic perspective, Feuerbach strongly criticized the theology,and strongly lashed out at the spiritual pillar of reigning the feudal forces in the 1840 s.He thought that the root of the religion was the sense of human dependence,desire,imagination and self-interest, on this basis, to expose the essence of religion is the reflection of human nature, also the alienation of human nature. In Feuerbach’s opinion, only the religion of love could eliminate the alienation and realize the return of human nature. Because the philosophical basis of Feuerbach’s religious view was humanism, he did not see the real source of the religion.Therefore, the understanding for the nature of religion is not comprehensive enough, the criticism of religion not complete enough.Standing on the position of historical materialism,Marx has criticized thoroughly Feuerbach’s religious view, realized to the transcendence of Feuerbach’s religious view. The starting point of the religious view of Marx’s historical materialism is the people of the realistic social life.He criticized the religious phenomenon and its roots, by investigating the two social practices of the material productive labor and the class struggle in the social life and their social historical conditions. In Marx’s opinion, the roots of religion are natural root, social root, psychological root, and cognitional root. The essence of religion is the implementation of human essence in fantasy. Marx expounds the law of development, the function of society and the conditions of demise in religion, from the economic conditions of the social reality and the methodology of historical materialism to analyze. For Marx,the social function of religion is mainly negative in class society. The material productive labor by engaged in people is the foundation of the social existence and development. The development of religion is determined by the material productive labor, and change with the development of the foundation of social economy. Religion is the social and historical phenomenon of the human society developed to a certain stage, and does not always exist, but its demise is a very long historical process.Marx constructed his religion of Historical materialism and realized to the transcendence of rational criticism to practical criticism by the criticism for Feuerbach’s religious view, thus contributed to a revolutionary change in philosophy. Marx’s religious view has great significance to make religious policy and deal with religious affairs for the primary stage of socialism in China.