Abstract

Feuerbach and the Search for Otherness reconstructs the university writings (1824-32) of the German philosopher Ludwig A. Feuerbach (1804-72). An exercise in the history of ideas, the book argues that the early Feuerbach is obsessed with the problem of subjectivism and, consequently, embarks on an independent project to liberate philosophy from the ego: the search for otherness. By analyzing all the earliest materials from the Feuerbach corpus, including the original dissertation, the letters, and the recently published Erlangen lectures, it proposes a theory concerning the principle of coherence within the corpus, and contributes to an understanding of Feuerbach's view of philosophy, his criticism of religion and his reception of Hegel.