Jon Stewart on Feuerbach’s Doctrine of the Humanity of the Divine in the Essence of Christianity

Authors

  • Kelvin Amorim de Melo Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul
  • Kristina Bosakova Universidade Pavol Jozef Šafárik

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18815/sh.v15i26.748

Keywords:

God, human, love, feeling of absolute dependence, projection, idolatry, religion

Abstract

For several decades, Ludwig Feuerbach — who in his youth was known as a student and follower of Hegel, and later as one of his most severe critics — has, for many reasons, been a significantly neglected philosopher. However, in recent years, we have witnessed a kind of revival of Feuerbach’s philosophy. Thinkers such as Jürgen Habermas have identified traces of Feuerbach’s philosophy, anthropology, and dialogical thought in various branches of contemporary post-metaphysical thinking. One scholar whose academic work has contributed to the renewed interest in Feuerbach's philosophy is Jon Stewart. In his book Hegel’s Century: Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution, in the chapter “Feuerbach's Doctrine of the Humanity of the Divine in The Essence of Christianity”, Stewart presents Feuerbach not only in opposition to Hegel but also emphasizes Hegel's influence on Feuerbach’s philosophy. He argues that the aim of Feuerbach’s critique of Christianity is not the destruction of religion, but rather the liberation of humanity from idolatry.

Author Biographies

Kelvin Amorim de Melo, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul

Mestre em Filosofia pela Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS).

Kristina Bosakova, Universidade Pavol Jozef Šafárik

I have dedicated several years after my university graduation to the research of the German philosophy of the 19th and 20th century and the continental hermeneutics and it`s ancestors on the field of philosophy. I was especially interested in German hermeneutics, represented mainly by Heidegger, Gadamer and Habermas. In my thesis, called Gadamer and the Greeks, I tried to make few steps back, to the beginnings of the western culture, which many theoreticians placed into the ancient Greek society, to discover the roots of the modern, hermeneutical concept of communication and the concept of present moral science, both based on the principals of the Platonic dialogue and Aristotelian practical philosophy.
Now, I would like to dedicate more attention to the German philosophy of the 19th century, especially to the philosophy of Ludwig Feuerbach, an important critical of the German Idealism. Although there is still a lot to investigate in the philosophical heritage of Feuerbach, his philosophy does not get as much attention as it would deserve and he is still the thinker, who stays in the shadow of the big personalities of the German enlightenment like Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, or of the younghegelianism like for example Marx. Currently I am working on the Problem of corporality in Feuerbach´s political philosophy (Das Problem der Leiblichkeit in der politischen Philosophie Feuerbach’s)

References

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FEUERBACH, L. Principles of Philosophy of the Future. In: The Fiery Brooks: Selected Writings. Tradução: Z. Hanfi. London and New York: Verso, 2012. p. 176-246.

FEUERBACH, L. The Essence of Christianity. Tradução: G. Eliot. New York: Prometheus Books, 1989.

HABERMAS, J. Auch eine Geschichte der Philosophie, Vols. 1 e 2. Berlin: Suhrkamp Verlag, 2019.

HABERMAS, J. Also a History of Philosophy: The Project of a Genealogy of Postmetaphysical Thinking, Vol. 1. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2023.

HALÍK, T. Patience with God. The Story of Zacchaeus Continuing in Us. Tradução: G. Turner. New York: Doubleday, 2009.

HEGEL, G. W. F. Frühe Schriften, Vol. 1 (Auf der Grundlage der Werke von 1832 – 1845 neu edierte Ausgabe). In: MICHEL, K. M.; MOLDENHAUER, E. (eds.). G. W. F. Hegel. Werke in 20 Bänden mit Registerband. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 2971.

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KOČÍ, M. Searching the Altar of an Unknown God: Tomáš Halík on Faith in a Secular Age. In: HALIK, T.;HOSEK, P. (eds.). A Czech Perspective on Faith in a Secular Age. Washington D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2015. p. 97-126.

REITEMEYER, U. Praktische Anthropologie oder die Wissenschaft vom Menschen zwischen Metaphysik, Ethik und Pädagogik. Wendepunkte. Münster: Waxmann, 2019.

STEWART, J. Hegel’s Century: Alienation and Recognition in a Time of Revolution. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.

TOMASONI, F. Ludwig Feuerbach. Entstehung, Entwicklung und Bedeutung seines Werks. Münster: Waxmann, 2015.

WEIL, S. Waiting for God. New York: Harper Collins, 2009.

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Published

2025-06-20

How to Cite

Amorim de Melo, K., & Bosakova, K. (2025). Jon Stewart on Feuerbach’s Doctrine of the Humanity of the Divine in the Essence of Christianity. Saber Humano: Revista Científica Da Faculdade Antonio Meneghetti, 15(26), 207–222. https://doi.org/10.18815/sh.v15i26.748

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 26 (2025): Edição de Volume 15 e Número 26 (2025.1)

Section

Tradução

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Copyright (c) 2025 Kelvin Amorim de Melo; Kristina Bosakova

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