1. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 1 religious claims religious claims were wrong were wrong Superstitious Superstitious impossible to defend with reason. impossible to defend with reason. What strategy did the Enlightenment thinkers use when they argued against religion?

2. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 2 religious believers are not just wrong or misguided, but rather are deceiving themselves at a very deep level, and so unable to understand what religion really means for human beings. religious believers are not just wrong or misguided, but rather are deceiving themselves at a very deep level, and so unable to understand what religion really means for human beings. Why does the “new” set of religious thinkers believe that religion is a force of mystification?

3. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 3 French philosopher Paul Ricoeur French philosopher Paul Ricoeur Who coined the phrase “hermeneutics of suspicion?”

4. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 4 Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud Feuerbach, Marx, Nietzsche, and Freud Who are the four “masters of suspicion” that Paul Ricoeur describes?

5. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 5 theories and methods of interpretation theories and methods of interpretation What does the term “hermeneutics” mean?

6. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 6 Interpreting and to uncover their hidden mechanisms—to show how various aspects of society and culture are not actually what we think they are, but rather are means by which we avoid the realities of life. Interpreting and to uncover their hidden mechanisms—to show how various aspects of society and culture are not actually what we think they are, but rather are means by which we avoid the realities of life. How did Paul Ricoeur explain the phrase “hermeneutics of suspicion?”

7. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 7 It is to uncover or demystify religious illusions on which human beings have depended for so long, so that the underlying causes can be exposed and—at least to some extent— changed. It is to uncover or demystify religious illusions on which human beings have depended for so long, so that the underlying causes can be exposed and—at least to some extent— changed. What is the task of hermeneutics in reference to religion?

8. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 8 as a form of false consciousness—the means by which people comforted themselves in the face of a miserable existence characterized by deep economic and social inequality as a form of false consciousness—the means by which people comforted themselves in the face of a miserable existence characterized by deep economic and social inequality How did Marx treat religion?

9. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 9 in human weakness and corruption in human weakness and corruption Where did Nietzsche believe the roots of religion and morality could be found?

10. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 10 A psychological repression and the inability of human beings to confront conflict that comes from the gap between our desires and the harsh reality of life. A psychological repression and the inability of human beings to confront conflict that comes from the gap between our desires and the harsh reality of life. Freud believed that religion came about as an effect of what phenomena?

11. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 11 it is necessary to diagnose religion it is necessary to diagnose religion to understand it to understand it interpret it as a symptom of conflicts and conditions that human beings find it difficult to face interpret it as a symptom of conflicts and conditions that human beings find it difficult to face Why does Feuerbach believe that we can’t simply dismiss religion as just a big mistake in the history of humanity?

12. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 12 it was difficult and dangerous for academics who faced losing their positions at universities it was difficult and dangerous for academics who faced losing their positions at universities Why was it rare, during the Enlightenment, to see a straightforward declaration of atheism among the leading philosophers and intellectuals?

13. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 13 a justification of the social and cultural status quo in Europe a justification of the social and cultural status quo in Europe How did the “conservative Hegelians interpret Hegel’s work?”

14. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 14 A criticism that would address the inequalities and other problems they saw in European society at the time A criticism that would address the inequalities and other problems they saw in European society at the time How did the “young Hegelians,” such as Feuerbach, interpret Hegel’s work?

15. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 15 First as a projection—that human beings create God. For Feuerbach in other words, everything starts with the human engagement with the material world—the world that we experience through our senses and our bodies. First as a projection—that human beings create God. For Feuerbach in other words, everything starts with the human engagement with the material world—the world that we experience through our senses and our bodies. How did Feuerbach reverse the order of Hegel’s idealism and replace it with materialism?

16. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 16 He describes a historical process by which human beings, through this engagement, come to better grasp the world and themselves and finally, in the end, come to full self-consciousness. He describes a historical process by which human beings, through this engagement, come to better grasp the world and themselves and finally, in the end, come to full self-consciousness. How did Feuerbach describe the historical process of human awareness?

17. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 17 The differencing of man from his own nature The differencing of man from his own nature What does Feuerbach describe as “the initial moment of history?”

18. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 18 The processes of projection, alienation, and our coming to self- consciousness. The processes of projection, alienation, and our coming to self- consciousness. What 3 elements does Feuerbach believe play an absolute crucial role in the development of humanity?

19. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 19 Because it separates them from all other forms of life and from all other types of animal life. Because it separates them from all other forms of life and from all other types of animal life. Why does self- consciousness make human beings human?

20. Feuerbach and the Hermeneutics of Suspicion. Question 20 Because they begin to see God less and less in anthropocentric terms and more and more in abstract intellectual and moral terms and resist this knowledge. Because they begin to see God less and less in anthropocentric terms and more and more in abstract intellectual and moral terms and resist this knowledge. Why do humans feel it necessary to make their projection of God more and more perfect?