Opium of the people

The opium of the people or opium of the masses (German: Opium des Volkes) is a dictum used in reference to religion, derived from a frequently paraphrased partial statement of German revolutionary and critic of political economy Karl Marx: "Religion is the opium of the people." In context, the statement is part of Marx's analysis that religion's role is as a metaphysical balm for the real suffering in the universe and in society.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

This statement was translated from the German original, "Die Religion [...] ist das Opium des Volkes" and is often rendered as "religion [...] is the opiate of the masses." The full sentence from Marx translates (including italics) as: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people."^[5]

The quotation originates from the introduction of Marx's work A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, which he started in 1843 but which was not published until after his death. The introduction to this work was published separately in 1844, in Marx's own journal Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher, a collaboration with Arnold Ruge. Often quoted only in part, the interpretation of the metaphor in its context has received much less attention.^[6]

^ "Marx and the 'Opiate of the Masses'." LibreTexts. 2021 February 20. Retrieved 2021 May 17.
^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Rogers, M., and M. E. Konieczny. 2018. "Does religion always help the poor? Variations in religion and social class in the west and societies in the global south." Palgrave Communications 4(73). doi:10.1057/s41599-018-0135-3.
^ Marx, Karl. [1843] 1970. "Introduction." A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, translated by A. Jolin and J. O’Malley, edited by J. O’Malley. Cambridge University Press. – via Marxists.org.
^ McKinnon, Andrew M. (2005). "Reading 'Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion". Critical Sociology. 31 (1–2): 15–38. doi:10.1163/1569163053084360. hdl:2164/3074. S2CID 143119316.

[1] "Marx and the 'Opiate of the Masses'." LibreTexts. 2021 February 20. Retrieved 2021 May 17.

[:1-2] Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:0-3] Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[:2-4] Rogers, M., and M. E. Konieczny. 2018. "Does religion always help the poor? Variations in religion and social class in the west and societies in the global south." Palgrave Communications 4(73). doi:10.1057/s41599-018-0135-3.

[:3-5] Marx, Karl. [1843] 1970. "Introduction." A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, translated by A. Jolin and J. O’Malley, edited by J. O’Malley. Cambridge University Press. – via Marxists.org.

[6] McKinnon, Andrew M. (2005). "Reading 'Opium of the People': Expression, Protest and the Dialectics of Religion". Critical Sociology. 31 (1–2): 15–38. doi:10.1163/1569163053084360. hdl:2164/3074. S2CID 143119316.

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