Ludwig Feuerbach

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–1872) was a German philosopher and a key figure in the left Hegelian movement, who argued in The Essence of Christianity that religious belief is the projection of human nature onto an imaginary divine being—a critique that directly influenced Marx.

Reduced theology to anthropology; his argument that God is a human projection decisively influenced Marx's materialist critique of religion and his humanist anthropology.