 One thing that distinguishes Feuerbach’s “new” philosophy from other versions of modern empiricism and materialism is his claim to have derived the “principles” of this philosophy through a dialectical inversion of the Hegelian system. In the “Theses” Feuerbach argues that, by “positing” the human essence “outside of man” in the ethereal realm of absolute spirit, the Hegelian philosophy perpetuates the theological alienation of human beings from their own essence, which he now explicitly equates with subjective spirit. The re-appropriation of this abstracted essence by finite, corporeal human subjects cannot be achieved “positively” [auf positive Weg], but only through a “total negation” of the Hegelian philosophy that will reveal once and for all the incarnational telos of the history of philosophy and humanity (VT 247). In this way, Feuerbach thinks, the hidden “truth of Christianity” (VT 263) will finally be realized in the form of an atheistic humanism that renounces the fantastical consolations of religion in order to embrace the historical tasks of human self-realization and the creation of the political and cultural institutions that are conducive to it.