A fundamentação subjetiva e social da religião em Ludwig Feuerbach e Karl Marx

Abstract

This article aims at discussing the difference between conceptions of religion as propounded by Ludwig Feuerbach and Karl Marx, in the effort to understand why religion has once again become a current issue. Initially, the subjective foundation of religion in Feuerbach will be shown principally in his fundamental work, The Essence of Christianity, in which he makes it clear that Christianity places on its summit a subjective, personal, unlimited God who creates through "pure thinking" and "will" nature and man. Then, unlike Feuerbach's arguments, the social basis of religion in Marx will be shown. Although there is no systematic elaboration of religion in Marx's thought, there is an evaluation of it according to a social critique of the material conditions of existence, which establishes the foundation of it. For Marx, religion, specifically presented as superstition, idolatry, "opium," which conforms man and embarrasses his conscience, must be denied, but it is not utterly contempt, prohibition or persecution of religion, nor its denial in a general approach, since it is a private matter and must be respected, but to unveil the religious veil present in society and in its political order in the State, which conceals human exploitation and oppression. The criticism of religion as an assessment of social reality from which it is born and is an ideal expression contributes in a certain way to the social emancipation of man. In closing, the article will seek to reflect on the place and function of religion according to its social political and economic context in order to better understand, for example, its role in the many crises in the world today.