SOURCE: Tatarkiewicz, Wladyslaw. “Feuerbach and Naturalism.” In Nineteenth Century Philosophy, translated by Chester A. Kisiel, pp. 50-56. Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1973.

In the following excerpt, Tatarkiewicz surveys the position of Feuerbach's thought in relation to naturalism, German idealism, and materialism.

In Germany after 1830 there was … a change in philosophy. The forerunner of these new trends was Ludwig Feuerbach. Just as Comte and Mill had done, he abandoned transcendental theories in philosophy, metaphysics, and idealism to initiate a minimalistic trend. But conditions in Germany were different from those in France or England. His philosophy, similar to their philosophy in what it opposed, was different in what it asserted: Feuerbach was a materialist.

The Arrangement of Philosophical Camps in Germany Around 1830

Idealism predominated in Germany, especially in the panlogical and dialectical form given it by Hegel. Already Schelling's romantic idealism was receding into the background. There was no empiricism...