Works

God and the State

Citation Formats

General Reference

Philosophy Atlas. "God and the State." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/god-and-the-state.

APA Style

Philosophy Atlas. (n.d.). God and the State. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/god-and-the-state

BibTeX

@misc{philosophyatlas-god-and-the-state,
  author = {Philosophy Atlas},
  title = {God and the State},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-philosophy.interactiveatlas.org/works/god-and-the-state},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

An unfinished manuscript written by Mikhail Bakunin around 1871 and published posthumously in 1882, arguing that the idea of a divine authority ruling creation and the idea of a state authority ruling its subjects both train human beings into the same habit of submission, so that rejecting one without rejecting the other leaves the underlying instinct for domination intact. Its central line, that if God really existed it would be necessary to abolish him, became one of the most quoted statements of anarchist anti-clericalism.

Facts

Publication Year

1882 1

Written in draft around 1871 and left unfinished at a point mid-argument; first published posthumously in 1882 by his literary executors.

Original Language

French 1

Cross-Tradition Connections