Kierkegaard and Kant on Radical Evil and the Highest Good: Virtue, Happiness, and the Kingdom of God

345 Pages·2014·0.947 MB·English

by  Roe Fremstedal

Kierkegaard and Kant
on Radical Evil and the
Highest Good
Roe Fremstedal
Virtue, Happiness, and the Kingdom
of God
Kierkegaard and Kant on Radical Evil and the
Highest Good
This page Intentionally left blank
Kierkegaard and Kant
on Radical Evil and the
Highest Good
Virtue, Happiness, and the Kingdom
of God
Roe Fremstedal
Professor, University of Tromsø, Norway
© Roe Fremstedal 2014
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2014 by
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ISBN: 978–1–137–44087–7
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fremstedal, Roe, 1977–
Kierkegaard and Kant on radical evil and the highest good : virtue,
happiness, and the kingdom of God / Roe Fremstedal, Professor, University
of Tromsø, Norway.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1–137–44087–7
1. Kierkegaard, Søren, 1813–1855. 2. Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804. 3.
Good and evil. 4. Good and evil – Religious aspects. 5. Ethics. I. Title.
B4377.F66 2014
170.9292—dc23 2014029178
To Kristine
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Contents
Acknowledgments viii
List of Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 M ethodological Considerations: Contextual and
Analytic Approaches to the History of Philosophy 5
2 O riginal Sin and Radical Evil: Moral Freedom
and Anxiety 2 2
3 A nthropology and Morality: Facticity and Moral
Character 5 5
4 H istory and Morality: The Moral Structure of the World 7 6
5 T he Highest Good: Virtue, Happiness, and the
Kingdom of God 9 4
6 T he Moral Argument for the Existence of God and
Immortality: Natural Theology and Divine Revelation 117
7 R eligious Faith and Divine Grace: Human and
Divine Agency 1 36
8 D ivine Revelation and Christianity: Rationalism and
Supernaturalism 1 53
9 R eligious Hope: Moral Agency and the Expectancy
of the Good 1 77
10 R eligion and Metaethics: Divine Commands and
Autonomy as the Source of Moral Obligations 199
11 C losing Discussion: Overlap and Influence 224
Notes 241
Select Bibliography 303
Index 319
vii
Acknowledgments
Parts of this monograph have been presented to audiences in Trondheim,
Oslo, Copenhagen, Reikjavik, Munich, and Northfield, MN. I want to
thank these audiences for useful comments, and to give special thanks
to the following persons: Niels Jørgen Cappelørn, Alastair Hannay, Helge
Høibraaten, Kjell Eyvind Johansen, Lars Johan Materstvedt, Bjørn Myskja,
Christoph Schulte, and Jon Stewart. Thanks are also due to the following
institutions: Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities, Social
Sciences and Education, University of Tromsø – The Arctic University
of Norway; Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, Faculty
of Humanities, Norwegian University of Science and Technology; The
Howard and Edna Hong Kierkegaard Library, St. Olaf College; The Søren
Kierkegaard Research Centre, University of Copenhagen; and The
Norwegian Non-fiction Writers and Translators Association. Finally,
I am very grateful to the original publishers for permission to reprint
material that has been previously published.
Chapter 2 has drawn upon material from within Roe Fremstedal,
‘Original Sin and Radical Evil: Kierkegaard and Kant’, Kantian Review ,
Vol. 17(2), 2012, pp 197–225. Reproduced with permission of Cambridge
University Press.
Chapter 3 has drawn upon material from within Roe Fremstedal,
‘Anthropology in Kierkegaard and Kant: The Synthesis of Facticity and
Ideality vs. Moral Character,’ in Heiko Schulz, Jon Stewart, and Karl
Verstrynge (eds), Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook , Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
2011, pp. 19–50.
Chapter 4 has drawn upon material from within Roe Fremstedal,
‘The Moral Makeup of the World: Kierkegaard and Kant on the Relation
between Virtue and Happiness,’ in Heiko Schulz, Jon Stewart, and Karl
Verstrynge (eds), Kierkegaard Studies Yearbook , Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
2012, pp. 25–47.
Chapter 5 contains excerpts from Roe Fremstedal, ‘The Concept of
the Highest Good in Kierkegaard and Kant,’ I nternational Journal for
Philosophy of Religion , Vol. 69(3), 2011, pp. 155–171. Reproduced with
kind permission of Springer Science and Business Media.
Chapter 5 also contains a quote from Jacqueline Marina, ‘Making
Sense of Kant’s Highest Good,’ in Gerhard Funke, Manfred Baum, Bernd
viii
Acknowledgments ix
Dörflinger, and Thomas Seebohm (eds), K ant-Studien, Vol. 91(3), Berlin:
de Gruyter 2000, pp. 329–355, pp. 346f.
Chapter 6 has drawn upon material from within Roe Fremstedal, ‘The
Moral Argument for the Existence of God and Immortality: Kierkegaard
and Kant,’ Journal of Religious Ethics , Vol. 41(1), 2013, pp. 50–78, Wiley-
Blackwell, © Journal of Religious Ethics, Inc.
Chapter 7 has drawn upon material from within Roe Fremstedal,
‘Kierkegaard’s Double Movement of Faith and Kant’s Moral Faith’,
Religious Studies, Vol. 48(2), 2012, pp. 199–220. Reproduced with permis-
sion from Cambridge University Press.
Chapter 9 is partially based on Roe Fremstedal, ‘Kierkegaard on the
Metaphysics of Hope,’ H eythrop Journal, Vol. 53(1), 2012, pp. 51–60,
Wiley-Blackwell.