Kant's Rational Theology (CUP 1978) Allen W Wood

156 Pages·2006·2.27 MB·English

By the same author
Kant's Moral Religion
Immanuel Kant, Lectures on Philosophical Theology,
translated with Gertrude M. Clark
KANT'S
Rational Theology
Allen W. Wood
Cornell University Press
Ithaca and London
In this sound and solid book, Allen
W. Wood explores Kant's views on
the concept of God and on the at¬
tempt to demonstrate God's exis¬
tence. "We cannot have a full or
balanced understanding of Kant's
thought on religious subjects," he
writes, "as long as we fail to take
account of his reflections, often ex¬
ceedingly abstract, obscure, and
subtle, concerning the rational origin,
content, and status of our concept of
a supreme being."
The importance of this aspect of
Kantian thought, according to Pro¬
fessor Wood, lies in its originality, in
its historical influence, and in the in¬
sights it affords into the tradition of
rational theology in medieval and
modern philosophy. He believes that
it also provides a means of under¬
standing Kant's work as a whole and
of achieving a proper appreciation of
the contents of Kant's moral faith.
The author focuses on Kant's chap¬
ter on the ideal of pure reason from
the Critique of Pure Reason and also
discusses other Kantian writings (es¬
pecially the Lectures on Philosophical
Theology, the Critique of Judgment, and
several of Kant's precritical essays)
where the topic of rational theology is
prominent.
A concise recapitulation and critical
assessment of Kant's more specula¬
tive theses, this book is a comple¬
ment to Wood's earlier work, Kant's
Moral Religion, and a companion to
his translation, with Gertrude M.
Clark, of Kant's Lectures on Philo¬
sophical Theology (see back of jacket).
ALLEN W. WOOD is Associate Pro¬
fessor of Philosophy at Cornell Uni¬
versity. A graduate of Reed College,
he received his M.A. and Ph.D. de¬
grees from Yale University.
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN PUBLISHED WITH THE AID OF A GRANT FROM THE HULL
MEMORIAL PUBLICATION FUND OF CORNELL UNIVERSITY.
Copyright © 1978 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this
book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without
permission in writing from the publisher. For information address
Cornell University Press, 124 Roberts Place, Ithaca, New York 14850.
First published 1978 by Cornell University Press.
Published in the United Kingdom by Cornell University Press Ltd.,
2-4 Brook Street, London W1Y 1AA.
International Standard Book Number 0-8014-1200-5
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 78-58059
Printed in the United States of America
Librarians; Library of Congress cataloging information
appears on the last page of the book.
To my parents,
Forrest and Alleen Wood

Contents
Preface 9
Introduction 15
1. The Idea of God 25
The Ideal of Pure Reason 28
The Ground of All Possibility 64
The Divine Attributes 79
2. The Three Theistic Proofs 95
Kant's Strategy 96
The Ontological Proof 100
The Cosmological Proof 123
The Physicotheological Proof 130
Concluding Remarks 147
Index 153

Preface
This book was conceived while I was working on a translation
of Immanuel Kant's Lectures on Philosophical Theology. It began as
a critical essay to be included in that volume, an essay of the sort
that translators commonly inflict on the reader as their price for
undertaking the important but thankless task of making a valu¬
able piece of writing available to those who cannot read it or
haven't the time to struggle through it in the original language.
But in the course of its composition, the critical essay grew into
a little book in its own right, which it now seems best to publish
separately.
Kant's thinking about theology, and about religious subjects
generally, has two distinct aspects: one practical or moral, the
other theoretical or metaphysical. It is clear that for Kant himself
the moral side of religious questions is by far the most important
one, and he takes the moral standpoint on the question of God's
existence and on other theological issues to be the only one ca¬
pable of yielding any positive results. But Kant's metaphysical
or theoretical reflections are of interest on account of their origi¬
nality and intrinsic philosophical merit, their historical influ¬
ence, and the light they shed on the tradition of rational the¬
ology in medieval and modern philosophy. This aspect of Kant's
philosophy is also of importance for an understanding of his
thought as a whole, and specifically for a proper appreciation of
the contents of Kantian moral faith.
In my book Kant's Moral Religion, I dealt almost exclusively