The atheism in the worldview of Karl Marx and antitheologism in anarchocollektivism of M. A. Bakunin

Abstract

The article presents a comparative analysis of the atheistic views of Marx and Bakunin. The German philosopher and the Russian anarchist in his youth belonged to this philosophical movement as ladegerate (left Hegelianism). Hegel’s dialectics revolutionarily stimulated the thinkers of German, Russian, Polish, Hungarian, Italian and other nations. The inevitable was the split among Hegel’s followers on the issue of further trends in historical development. It was the German left Hegelians who started discussing the religious problem. The call of left Hegelians to the philosophy of practical actions have inspired many thinkers, including Feuerbach, Marx, Bakunin, to reconsider the Hegelian philosophy. The atheism of Marx developed on the basis of the study of the materialist doctrines of Epicurus and of Democritus, and anti-theologism Bakunin relied on his understanding of the Church as a tool of autocratic rule. For Marx, atheism had a worldview value, for Bakunin it was a practical task. If in his materialistic philosophy, which was developed in the post-Hegelian period, Marx proceeded in theoretical positions from the category of “alienation”, in the early period of his philosophical creativity, the main category was the will. In the further Marx concludes that the elimination of religious alienation involves the abolition of economic alienation. Bakunin’s ideal of anarchy as an absence of power suggests other social ties, rather than power, force, control, hierarchy, etc. It is the strongest spiritual and moral basis of common life. This is the existence of a free person in a free society, the reverse side of which is the responsibility of the individual.

Keywords:

atheism, anti-theologism, Russian anarchism, philosophy of Marxism, left Hegelianism