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Single Idea 24314

[catalogued under 1. Philosophy / D. Nature of Philosophy / 5. Aims of Philosophy / a. Philosophy as worldly]

Full Idea

The immediate task of philosophy, which is at the service of history, once the holy form of self-estrangement has been unmasked, is to unmask self-estrangement in its unholy form.

Gist of Idea

Once religion is unmasked, the task of philosophy is to unmask other types of self-estrangement

Source

Karl Marx (Collected works (w Engels) - 50 vols [1860], Vol 3: 176), quoted by Jaime Edwards/Brian Leiter - Marx

A Reaction

I take it that this means that the first task is to deconstruct religious beliefs, and the second is to deconstruct cognitive bias. I find the image of unbiased philosophers smugly unmasking all the pathetic masked people very unattractive.

Book Reference

Edwards,J/Leiter,B: 'Marx' [Routledge 2025], p.187

Related Idea

Idea 24313 Cognitive bias mainly results from prior beliefs, or readily available information [Edwards,J/Leiter,B]