Kant and Religion

271 Pages·2019·1.575 MB·English

by  Allen W. Wood

KantandReligion
ThismasterfulworkonKant’sReligionwithintheBoundariesofMere
Reason explores Kant’s treatment of the idea of God, his views con-
cerningevil,andthemoralgroundsforfaithinGod.KantandReligion
works to deepen our understanding of religion’s place and meaning
withinthehistoryofhumanculture,touchingonKant’sphilosophical
stance regarding theoretical, moral, political, and religious matters.
Wood’s breadth of knowledge of Kant’s corpus, philosophical sharp-
ness,anddepthofreflectionshedslightnotonlyonKantbutalsoonthe
fateofreligionanditsrelationtophilosophyinthemodernworld.
Allen W. Wood is Ruth Norman Halls Professor of Philosophy at
IndianaUniversity.
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CambridgeStudiesinReligion,Philosophy,andSociety
SeriesEditors
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ChadMeister,BethelCollege,Indiana
Thisisaseriesofinterdisciplinarytextsdevotedtomajor-levelcoursesinreligion,philosophy,
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scholarsfromvariousdisciplinesthat(a)focusonthecentralacademictopicsinreligionand
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differingperspectivesandbackgrounds–thecentralvoicesonthemajorreligionsandthe
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today. Cambridge Studies in Religion, Philosophy, and Society is a direct response to this
recentandwidespreadinterestandneed.
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RogerTriggReligiousDiversity:PhilosophicalandPoliticalDimensions
JohnCottinghamPhilosophyofReligion:TowardsaMoreHumaneApproach
William J. Wainwright Reason, Revelation, and Devotion: Inference and Argument
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GordonGrahamPhilosophy,Art,andReligion:UnderstandingFaithandCreativity
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J.L.SchellenbergReligionafterScience:TheCulturalConsequencesofReligiousImmaturity
CliffordWilliamsReligionandtheMeaningofLife:AnExistentialApproach
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Kant and Religion
ALLEN W. WOOD
IndianaUniversity
StanfordUniversity
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Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781108422345
doi:10.1017/9781108381512
©AllenW.Wood2020
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names:Wood,AllenW.,author.
title:Kantandreligion/AllenW.Wood.
description:1.|NewYork:CambridgeUniversityPress,2020.|Series: Cambridgestudies
inreligion,philosophy,andsociety|Includes bibliographicalreferencesandindex.
identifiers:lccn2019051968(print)|lccn2019051969(ebook)|
isbn 9781108422345(hardback)|isbn9781108381512(ebook)
subjects:lcsh:Kant,Immanuel,1724–1804–Religion.|Metaphysics.| Immortality
(Philosophy)|Soul–Philosophy.|God–Controversal literature.
classification:lccb2799.r4w652020(print)|lccb2799.r4(ebook)| ddc210.92–dc23
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Tothememoryofmybrother
RogerEarlWood
(1947–2008)
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Contents
Citations pagex
Preface xiii
NoteontheCoverImage xxii
1 ReligionandReason 1
1.1 WhatIs“Religion”? 2
1.2 ReligionasEssentiallySymbolic 4
1.3 ReligioninKant’sLife 9
1.4 TheExperimentalTestingofaHypothesis 11
1.5 TheFirstExperiment 14
1.6 TheSecondExperiment 16
1.7 ThePublicationofKant’sReligionwithintheBoundariesofMere
Reason 20
1.8 Wöllner’sChargesandKant’sDefense 22
2 MoralFaithinGod 27
2.1 PhilosophicalArgumentsforBeliefinGod 27
2.2 PracticalGroundsofAssent 29
2.3 WhatIsatStakeinKant’sPracticalArguments 34
2.4 TheHighestGoodasaMoralEnd 37
2.5 TheMoralArgumentintheCritiqueofPureReason 39
2.6 TheMoralArgumentintheCritiqueofPracticalReason 45
2.7 TheMoralArgumentintheCritiqueofthePowerofJudgment 49
2.8 TheKindofAssentJustifiedbytheMoralArgument 51
2.9 IsPracticalFaithAntievidentialist? 56
3 TheRadicalEvilinHumanNature 61
3.1 OriginalSinandRadicalEvil 61
3.2 PracticalFreedom 63
3.3 TheConceptofMoralEvil 66
vii
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viii Contents
3.4 ThePropensitytoEvil 70
3.5 Kant’s“Rigorism” 73
3.6 Walpole’sThesis 75
3.7 EvilandUnsociableSociability 76
3.8 ThePassions 79
3.9 TheThreeDegreesofEvil 82
3.10 UseoftheThesisofRadicalEvil 84
4 TheChangeofHeart 89
4.1 ThePurityoftheMoralIncentive 90
4.2 GoodnessofHeart 91
4.3 ActingfromanIncentive 94
4.4 ActingfromDutyintheGroundwork 98
4.5 LegalityandMorality 101
4.6 TheNarrowDutytoActfromDuty 104
4.7 TheWideDutytoActfromDuty 107
4.8 NotaDatableEventinTime 110
5 TheSonofGod 115
5.1 TheMoralIdeal 115
5.2 SymbolsandAnalogy 117
5.3 SymbolsandReligion 120
5.4 TheSonofGodasaSymbol 124
5.5 FaithintheRealityoftheSonofGod 126
5.6 TheThreeDifficulties 127
5.7 God’sDecreeofGrace 133
5.8 WhatIsForgiveness? 135
6 GraceandSalvation 139
6.1 JustifyingGraceandGod’sForgiveness 140
6.2 VicariousAtonement 143
6.3 JesusChristastheSonofGod 148
6.4 SalvationbyGraceAlone 151
6.5 MoralPresuppositionsofGrace 152
6.6 God’sCausalityandthe“InconsistentQuartet” 155
6.7 AugustinianismaboutGrace 161
7 TheEthicalCommunityandtheChurch 164
7.1 TheEthicalStateofNature 164
7.2 TheEthicalCommunity 166
7.3 EcclesiasticalFaith 168
7.4 TheNeedforRevealedReligion 170
7.5 SublimityandRevealedReligion 172
7.6 TheInterpretationofScripture 174
7.7 FaithandWorks:TheAntinomy 178
7.8 TheComingoftheKingdomofGod 182
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Contents ix
8 FreedomofConscience 185
8.1 WhatIsServiceofGod?WhatIs“Counterfeit”Service? 187
8.2 MendelssohnandKant 190
8.3 MendelssohnonNaturalRight,Church,andState 192
8.4 Mendelssohn’s“NewandHarsh”Doctrines 195
8.5 FreedomofConscienceandEvidentialism 197
8.6 Mendelssohn’sEnlightenedJudaism 200
8.7 WhereMendelssohnandKantDiffer 201
8.8 KantonReligiousConscience 204
ConcludingRemarks 210
Bibliography 216
Index 225
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Citations
WritingsofKantwillbecitedaccordingtothefollowingabbreviations:
Ak Immanuel Kants Schriften. Ausgabe der königlich preussischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1902–).
Unless otherwise footnoted, writings of Immanuel Kant will be
citedbyvolume:pagenumberinthisedition.
Ca Cambridge Edition of the Writings of Immanuel Kant (New York:
CambridgeUniversityPress,1992–2016).Thiseditionprovidesmar-
ginalAkvolume:pagecitations.Specificworkswillbecitedusingthe
following system of abbreviations. (Works not abbreviated below
willbecitedsimplyasAkvolume:page.)
Anth AnthropologieinpragmatischerHinsicht(1798),Ak7Anthropology
from a Pragmatic Point of View, Ca Anthropology, History, and
Education
ED DasEndeAllerDinge,Ak8TheEndofAllThings,CaWritingson
ReligionandNaturalTheology
EF Zum ewigen Frieden: Ein philosophischer Entwurf (1795), Ak 8
Toward Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Project, Ca Practical
Philosophy
G GrundlegungzurMetaphysikderSitten(1785),Ak4Groundworkof
theMetaphysicsofMorals,CaPracticalPhilosophy
I Idee zu einer allgemeinen Geschichte in weltbürgerlicher Absicht
(1784),Ak8IdeatowardaUniversalHistorywithaCosmopolitan
Aim,CaAnthropology,History,andEducation
KrV Kritik der reinen Vernunft (1781, 1787). Cited by A/B pagination.
CritiqueofPureReason,CaCritiqueofPureReason
KpV Kritik der praktischen Vernunft (1788), Ak 5 Critique of Practical
Reason,CaPracticalPhilosophy
KU Kritik der Urteilskraft (1790), Ak 5 Critique of the Power of
Judgment,CaCritiqueofthePowerofJudgment
x
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