Ludwig Feuerbach's departure from the traditional philosophy of Hegel opened a door for generations of radical philosophical thinkers, foremost among them the young Karl Marx. Indeed, much of early Marx is unintelligible without reference to certain fundamental Feuerbachian texts. The selections in this volume, few of them available in translation elsewhere, reveal Feuerbach's fundamental criticisms of the 'old philosophy' of Hegel and advance his own humanistic thought, grounded in life and sensuality. The reader can readily grasp the liberating influence of this unjustly neglected philosopher.