Karl Marx\u2019s thought is justifiably characterized as \u201cmaterialist.\u201d\u00a0 In his doctoral dissertation, he had contrasted the theories of Democritus and Epicurus, both of whom rejected Pythagorean-Platonic notions of a separate world of the \u201cspirit\u201d (i.e., of eternal \u201cpatterns\u201d from which transient, this-world things supposedly derived).\u00a0 Like many radical humanists of the mid-19th century, Marx was profoundly influenced by Feuerbach\u2019s dismissal of an illusory \u201cGod\u201d as in actuality a projection of the potential powers of humanity.\u00a0 Not only Christianity but virtually all world religions had insisted on an after-worldly disposition of the immortal \u201csoul\u201d — transmigration, inferior reincarnation (bad karma), infernal punishment for this-worldly \u201csins,\u201d and so on.\u00a0 (By contrast, Nietzsche\u2019s Zarathustra reassured the dying tightrope walker that there was no hell to fear — death was simply a termination.)<\/p>\n
Despotic rulers, from times immemorial, had utilized priestly elites to indoctrinate their credulous \u201csubjects\u201d in humble obedience — lest the \u201cGod\u201d of reigning ideology impose horrific, never-ending punishments on their recalcitrant, immortal souls.\u00a0 Even into the 20th century, most people worldwide remained indoctrinated in some variant of belief in virtuous humility as a crucial basis for after-worldly \u201csalvation\u201d (variously depicted).\u00a0 Oppressed populations, fearing disease and death, would solicit \u201cdivine\u201d protection through prayer, and offer ritual sacrifices as a quid pro quo <\/em>for divine favor.\u00a0 To Marx (as well as Freud), all this was a survival of fear-dominated times, in which hapless humans, unable to comprehend the class-based origins of their oppression, desperately looked skyward for fantasized rescue.<\/p>\n Where did this almost-universal notion of the \u201csoul\u201d come from?\u00a0 Nineteenth century anthropologists concluded that, in pre-modern times, the occurrence of death <\/em>remained a mystery.\u00a0 At one moment, the dying loved one was still talking, her features lively and animated–and then, inert stillness.\u00a0 (\u201cThe rest is Silence\u201d — Hamlet.)\u00a0 To observers of such a moment, something <\/em>appeared to have left <\/em>the body, which remained in place but now forever motionless.\u00a0 This \u201csomething,\u201d our remote ancestors must have (falsely) surmised, must have ascended to some other realm or dimension.\u00a0 Thus, the after-worldly, immortal \u201csoul\u201d — and, along with it, absurd, this-worldly anxieties about its \u201csalvation.\u201d\u00a0 For Marx, such preoccupation was a terrible travesty, a deluded affront to confronting the very real, <\/em>material problems of survival and to struggling to overcome the deprivations of being oppressed and exploited.<\/p>The post A Note on Marx\u2019s Atheistic Humanism<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.\n This post was originally published on Dissident Voice<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Karl Marx\u2019s thought is justifiably characterized as \u201cmaterialist.\u201d\u00a0 In his doctoral dissertation, he had contrasted the theories of Democritus and Epicurus, both of whom rejected Pythagorean-Platonic notions of a separate world of the \u201cspirit\u201d (i.e., of eternal \u201cpatterns\u201d from which transient, this-world things supposedly derived).\u00a0 Like many radical humanists of the mid-19th century, Marx was [\u2026]<\/p>\n The post A Note on Marx\u2019s Atheistic Humanism<\/a> first appeared on Dissident Voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":281,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1405,472,33,464],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608482"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608482"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608482\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":608483,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608482\/revisions\/608483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}