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Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1872) was a German philosopher best known for his support for materialism and analysis of religion. Wikipedia says,
"Feuerbach's theme [in The Essence of Christianity] was a derivation of Hegel's speculative theology in which the Creation remains a part of the Creator, while the Creator remains greater than the Creation. When the study Feuerbach presented his own theory to Hegel, Hegel refused to reply positively to it." (Wikipedia: Ludwig Feuerbach, 7.20.21 UTC 18:06)The rest of this post is some quotes from Feuerbach.
Religion
"What man calls Absolute Being, his God, is his own being. The power of the object over him is therefore the power of his own being." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
"...atheism - at least in the sense of this work - is the secret of religion itself... in its essence, believes in nothing else than the truth and divinity of human nature." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
Ethics
"The first philosophers were astronomers. The heavens remind man... that he is destined not merely to act, but also to contemplate." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
"We have busied ourselves and contented ourselves long enough with speaking and writing; now at least we demand that the word become flesh, the spirit matter; we are sick of political as we are of philosophical idealism; we are determined to become political materialists." (Lectures on the Essence of Religion, 1851)
Truth
"The present age... prefers the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, fancy to reality, the appearance to the essence... For in these days illusion only is sacred, truth profane." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
"I have always taken as the standard of the mode of teaching and writing, not the abstract, particular, professional philosopher, but universal man, that I have regarded man as the criterion of truth..." (The Essence of Christianity, 1841)
