Dictionary of Philosophy of Religion

88

FEUERBACH, LUDWIG ANDREAS

The “new” in twenty-first century femi-
nist philosophy of religion includes
greater attention to moral psychology and
virtue epistemology. So, the philosophical
attention of feminists has turned to
the motivations for religious practices,
including the reasons or causes for pas-
sions in different religions. In addition,
feminist philosophers are considering
novel metaphysical issues; they generate
new core concepts—like “transcendence
incarnate”—encouraging philosophers of
religion in debates about material reality,
bodily existence, and spatial locations.
In 1994, Nancy Frankenberry and
Marilyn Thie broke ground for feminist
philosophers in co-editing the first spe-
cial issue on “Feminist Philosophy of
Religion” in a prominent Anglo-American
philosophy journal (Hypatia: A Journal
of Feminist Philosophy [Fall] 9:4). It took
another four years before the first two
monographs, following Frankenberry
and Thie, applied feminist critiques to
the field of Anglo-American philosophy
of religion (Pamela Sue Anderson, A
Feminist Philosophy of Religion: the Ratio-
nality and Myths of Religious Belief (1998),
and Grace M. Jantzen, Becoming Divine:
Towards a Feminist Philosophy of Religion
(1998)). It was another six years before
a volume of feminist essays in the same
spirit appeared co-edited by Pamela Sue
Anderson and Beverley Clack, Feminist
Philosophy of Religion: Critical Readings
(2004). The most recent collection of
major work in this field is edited by
Pamela Sue Anderson, New Topics in

Feminist Philosophy of Religion: Contesta-

tions and Transcendence Incarnate (2009).

At each of these stages, progress has

been made in critical argumentation

bridging traditional theism and feminist

philosophy. The hope is that the next

generation is assimilating the very best

philosophical argumentation by feminists

into the global mainstream of philosophy

of religion.

FEUERBACH, LUDWIG ANDREAS

(1804–1872). German materialist philo-

sopher and critic of religion, Feuerbach

was born in Bavaria and studied theology

at Heidelberg and Berlin. In Berlin, he

studied under Hegel and Schleiermacher,

receiving his doctorate in 1828. Feuerbach

is best known for his theory of projection,

wherein he reversed the Hegelian dialec-

tic and asserted that “God” is nothing

more than a projection of humanity’s

self-alienated essence. He argued that

theology is actually (and ought to be

reduced to) anthropology, because God

worship is actually self-worship. An athe-

ist who denied an individual afterlife,

Feuerbach held that human emancipa-

tion lies in an affirmation of this life

while renouncing false supernatural pro-

jections. His work heavily influenced Karl

Marx. The novelist known as George

Eliot translated and was influenced by his

works. Feuerbach’s chief works include

Towards a Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy

(1839), The Essence of Christianity (1841),

Principles of the Philosophy of the Future