Marx and the Idea of

Critique
Introduction to the Contributions to a Critique of Hegel’s
Philosophy of Right (1844)
On the Jewish Question (1844)
What is Religion?
According to Marx,
Religion is:
a. The self-consciousness and self-esteem of an alienated human being

Religion is:
b. A general theory of the world
c. An encyclopedic compendium of the world
d. Its logic in popular form
e. Its moral sanction
f. Its universal basis of consolation and justification

Religion is:
Inverted consciousness of the world

Religion is:
The sigh of the oppressed creature
The heart of a heartless world
The soul of soulless conditions

Religion is:
The opium of the masses
Implications of Marx’s
Understanding of Religion
Religion is not entirely without truth.

But, it gives us the truth of the world in an inverted form.

Religion is a consciousness of the world (world is different from universe, for the world involves our hopes,
our desires, our actions as human beings) even though inverted.

Religion is not a compendium of erroneous facts about the universe.

Religion is not a rival to natural science.

Religion is a projection of the human being (its hopes, its desires, its morality) into
place beyond this world (the illusion, the fantasy of religion, its opiate nature).

Religion tells us that justice, of peace, of happiness is not possible in its entirety in
this world.
What does it mean to criticize
religion?
Religion cannot be decisively criticized by natural science.

Religion cannot be criticized merely on the factual plane

To criticize religion is to show that justice, peace and individual

happiness is possible in its entirety in this world.

To criticize religion is to show human beings a way back from

their projections into a world beyond into this world, making the
transformation of this world possible.

To criticize religion is to make us free of the illusions of religion.

The Critique of Religion is
Foundational in Nature
Religion is the highest of self-alienation

The critique of the religion is the immediate task of philosophy

Critique of religion Critique of law

Critique of theology Critique of politics
How do we free ourselves from the
illusions of religion?
Not by turning religion into a private practice, not by merely
separating church from state (secular liberalism): political
emancipation from religion

Implications:

Secular liberalism is quite religious!!!

To abolish religion we need to go beyond the liberal freedom to

practice religion in private: From political emancipation to
human emancipation