Re: [Fwd: [Fwd: Re: Prof. combats ignorance about Islam, women]]

["Charles Brown" <CharlesB@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The "Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law. Introduction" which you quote below starts out 'For Germany the criticism of religion is in the main complete, and criticism of religion is the premise of all criticism."  Granted the rest of the famous discussion in the first few paragraphs seems a general discussion of religion, but he does start out with the a specific reference to Germany in the then present.

Also, Hegel's philosophy was presented as a form of Christianity, and the rest of Marx's essay is very specifically on German politics of the time.

Charles Brown

>>> "Mr P.A. Van Heusden" <pvanheus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 08/20/99 12:27PM >>>
On Fri, 20 Aug 1999, jennifer lehmann wrote:

> As I argued for a differentiated analysis, I would of course argue for
> an historical analysis.  Marx's comments about the institution of
> religion were made in an historical manner, specifically referring to
> Catholicism as the main source of false consciousness in feudal
> socio-economic-cultural orders.

Could you please provide proof for this?

In criticising Hegel's philosophy of law, Marx writes: "This state, this
society, produce religion, an inverted world-consciousness, because they
are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of that world, its
encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in a popular form, its spiritualistic
point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn
complement, its universal source of consolation and justification. It is
the fantastic realisation of the human essence because the human essence
has no true reality."

Now, reading that, it seems to be aimed rather generally at religion's
place within *any* society where 'the human essence has no true reality' -
i.e. any society where human existance takes an alienated form. In other
words, any class society.

I am willing to be shown that this applies specifically to Catholicism in
the feudal order, though.

Peter
--
Peter van Heusden : pvanheus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx : PGP key available
'The demand to give up illusions about the existing state of affairs is the
demand to give up a state of affairs which needs illusions.' - Karl Marx