Ludwig Feuerbach

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) was a German philosopher and anthropologist whose writings became central to nineteenth-century debates about religion and human nature. He is best known for *The Essence of Christianity* (1841), in which he argued that theological ideas reflect human needs and ideals rather than divine realities. Feuerbach’s critique of Christianity helped shift attention from metaphysics to anthropology, emphasizing the human origins of religious belief. His work strongly influenced later thinkers, including Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, who engaged with his materialist and human-centered approach while developing their own theories. Feuerbach also wrote on ethics, sensuousness, and the limits of speculative philosophy.