Open University puts the (animated) spotlight on two sociologists who were critical of organised religion. This first one is on Karl Marx and his enduring dictum: “Religion is the opium of the people.” Marx used this phrase to argue that religion is a mechanism to entice poor and disadvantaged people to accept suffering and inequality as part of life (through the enticement of higher rewards in the afterlife). The original quote is drawn from the Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right. Continue reading Marx and Auguste Comte on the Sociology of Religion
Marx’s Tombstone
Karl Marx’s tombstone is in London’s Highgate Cemetery. On the top, it is inscribed with his famous call for social transformation: “Workers of all lands unite.” At its base is the final line from his Theses On Feuerbach, first published in 1888 and co-edited with Engles:
The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways; the point is to change it.
Republished as Marx/Engels Selected Works, Volume One.
Images via Flickr: 1) William Glen. 2) Barbara Chandler.
The Other Sociologist 