Religião e sentimento de desamparo : uma análise política do pensamento Ludwig Feuerbach

Abstract

The present dissertation aims to explain the notion of a sense of political helplessness using Feuerbach's theory as a theoretical premise, which follows from the feeling of dependence, a theme developed by Feuerbach in two of his main works: 'The Essence of Christianity' and 'Lectures on the Essence of Religion.' In these works, Feuerbach emphasizes the foundation of human existence, upon which he bases his anthropology by taking the integral human being as the basis. Although he does not exclusively address the feeling of helplessness and its relationship with politics, Feuerbach, it seems, provides strong indications of this relationship that has evolved over time, from natural religions to contemporary monotheisms. Despite being accused by numerous philosophers and intellectuals of having a philosophy disconnected from material issues and academic ostracism, Feuerbach remains a highly relevant and current author for both the academic community and society. According to Feuerbach, religion, a constitutive phenomenon of human beings, has ceased to be used as a way to explain phenomena to which human knowledge did not yet have access, and instead has been used as a means to perpetuate social ills. In this sense, Feuerbach's view of religion resembles a form of primitive knowledge that can be justifiable to the extent that human beings were unable to explain disasters that affected them and could do nothing about them, such as drought, lightning, thunder, and perhaps even food scarcity. What can be observed in contemporary times is that despite all the technology developed by humans and knowledge about the natural functioning of the world, there is still hunger, epidemics, lack of access to education, and housing. Thus, the sense of human helplessness occurs on two levels: that of God and the State. Therefore, the contemporary human's sense of helplessness is reversed through belief in God, but unlike natural religions, God is no longer seen as an explanatory phenomenon of the order of the world but as a maintainer of social ills and misfortunes, since issues that are of a political nature, that is, related to the State, are left to divine intervention. This divine intervention never occurs because health, food, housing, and education are matters of politics, that is, of the human community, and should, above all, be discussed by human beings themselves. Feuerbach is far from being an inveterate atheist and even defends religious freedom, but he does seem to be a political enthusiast who sees that religion has been transformed into the explanatory principle of human misfortunes and ills that should be thought about and discussed by human beings in the community.