SCIENCE AND REVOLUTION 



of Christianity " and " Theses for a Reform of 

 Philosophy," by means of which he emancipated 

 himself and his fellow-radicals from the Hegelian 

 system. He declared point blank : The mystery 

 of God's nature illustrates nothing else but the 

 mystery of human nature. The various proofs 

 for the existence of a God are merely interesting 

 attempts of self-affirmation on the part of the 

 human being. The method of speculative philos- 

 ophy, which attempts to deduce concrete truths 

 from abstract generalizations, is fallacious. 

 Nothing can be obtained in this manner but a 

 realization of one's own abstractions. The mys- 

 tery of speculative philosophy finds its logical 

 champion in theology. Hegelian philosophy is 

 the last resort of theology. Whoever does not 

 abandon Hegelian philosophy, does not abandon 

 theology. Being is the true reality, and thinking 

 merely an attribute of being. Being is simply 

 the existence of nature. Empirical philosophy 

 and natural -science must go hand in hand. 



Theoretically, Feuerbach had thus overcome 

 Hegelian idealism and become a materialist 

 philosopher. But when it came to a practical 

 application of his new understanding to social 

 problems, he balked at the logical progress implied 

 by his advance over Hegel and fell into mean- 



112 



