Abstract
Gniazdowski attempts to reconstruct the historical context and political meaning of the idea of “positive abolition of religion”, presented by Marx in his early writings. Insofar as the idea of such an abolition is usually interpreted as the expression of his not only “atheism” but also “radicalism”, the aim of that reconstruction is the critical assessment of the priority of these ideas over each other. As Gniazdowski argues, it is by no means correct to assume that the terms “atheism” and “abolition of religion” are for Marx just replaceable. He proposes a thesis that Marx’s position is not to be interpreted as insofar “radical” and politically significant as it is atheistic, but rather as an expression of his “apophatic”, political religion.
Poor dogs! They want to treat you like human beings!
Karl Marx
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Gniazdowski, A. (2020). Political Significance of Atheism: Karl Marx’s Idea of the “Positive Abolition of Religion”. In: Wróbel, S., Skonieczny, K. (eds) Atheism Revisited. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34368-2_6
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