Ludwig Feuerbach Quotes on Mind
Ludwig Feuerbach, the most influential of the Young Hegelians, placed the human mind at the centre of his philosophy, and the quotes gathered here reflect that emphasis. For Feuerbach the powers traditionally projected onto God are in truth the perfections of human nature itself: the power of thought is the light of knowledge, the power of will is the energy of character, and the power of heart is love. His critique of religion, captured in the formulas, here marked as attributed, that theology is anthropology and that God is a projection of the human heart, follows directly from this account of mind. Feuerbach also faulted Hegel's idealism for not appealing to the intellect within us, and he called the history of philosophical systems the picture gallery of reason. Throughout, he seeks to reclaim for humanity what abstraction had estranged.
Quotes
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Attributed to Ludwig Feuerbach:
“Theology is anthropology.”
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Attributed to Ludwig Feuerbach:
“God is the projection of the human heart.”
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“Demonstrating is therefore only the means through which I strip my thought of the form of “mine-ness” so that the other person may recognize it as his own.”
Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 66 -
“Every presentation of philosophy, whether oral or written, is to be taken and can only be taken in the sense of a means. Every system is only an expression or image of reason, and hence only an object of reason, an object which reason—a living power that procreates itself in new thinking beings—distinguishes from itself and posits as an object of criticism. Every system that is not recognized and appropriated as just a means, limits and warps the mind for it sets up the indirect and formal thought in the place of the direct, original and material thought.”
Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 67 -
“All presentation, all demonstration—and the presentation of thought is demonstration—has, according to its original determination—and this is all that matters to us—the cognitive activity of the other person as its ultimate aim.”
Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 67 -
“The power of thought is the light of knowledge, the power of will is the energy of character, the power of heart is love. Reason, love and power of will are perfections of man.”
The Essence of Christianity(1841) | Introduction, Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 99 -
“Hegel … proceeds abstractly from the pre-existence of the intellect. … He does not appeal to the intellect within us.”
Towards a Critique ofHegel’sPhilosophy (1839) | Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 68 -
“The history of philosophical system is the picture gallery of reason.”
Towards a Critique ofHegel’sPhilosophy (1839) | Z. Hanfi, trans., in The Fiery Brook (1972), p. 68 -
“We have busied ourselves and contented ourselves long enough with speaking and writing; now at last we demand that the word become flesh, the spirit matter; we are as sick of political as we are of philosophical idealism; we are determined to become political materialists.”
Lectures on the Essence of Religion(1851) | Lecture I, Occasion and Context