Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to Kant on Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason

289 Pages·2013·1.577 MB·English

by  Lawrence R. Pasternack

Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to
Kant on Religion within the
Boundaries of Mere Reason:
An Interpretation and Defense
Throughout his career Kant engaged with many of the fundamental ques-
tions in philosophy of religion: arguments for the existence of God, the
soul, the problem of evil, and the relationship between moral belief and
practice.ReligionwithintheBoundariesofMereReasonishismajorworkon
the subject. This Guidebook is an excellent starting point for anyone
comingtoKant’simportantbutcomplexworkforthefirsttime.Lawrence
R.Pasternackpresents andassesses:
(cid:1) the philosophical background to Religion within the Boundaries of Mere
Reason
(cid:1) theideas andargumentsofthe text
(cid:1) the continuing importance of Kant’s work to philosophy of religion
today.
LawrenceR.PasternackisAssociateProfessorofPhilosophyatOklahoma
StateUniversity,USA.
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Routledge Philosophy Guidebook to
Kant on Religion within the
Boundaries of Mere Reason
Lawrence R.
Pasternack
Firstpublished2014
byRoutledge
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andbyRoutledge
711ThirdAvenue,NewYork,NY10017
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©2014LawrenceR.Pasternack
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Pasternack,Lawrence,1967–
RoutledgephilosophyguidebooktoKantonReligionwithintheboundariesofmere
reason/byLawrenceR.Pasternack.–1[edition].
pagescm.–(Routledgephilosophyguidebooks)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Kant,Immanuel,1724-1804.ReligioninnerhalbderGrenzenderblossenVernunft.
2.Religion–Philosophy.I.Title.
B2792.P372013
210.92–dc23
2013018379
ISBN:978-0-415-50784-4(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-50786-8(pbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-87430-2(ebk)
TypesetinGaramond
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
C
ONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ix
LIST OF FIGURES xi
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii
Introduction 1
1 Faith, knowledge and the Highest Good 17
2 Religion’s two prefaces and the moral foundations
of pure rational faith 61
3 Part One of Religion: Good, evil, and human nature 85
4 Part Two of Religion: The change of heart 131
5 Part Three of Religion: The kingdom of God on earth 174
6 Part Four of Religion: Authentic and counterfeit
service to God 215
7 Conclusion 237
BIBLIOGRAPHY 259
INDEX 264
L A
IST OF BBREVIATIONS
Unless otherwise indicated, translations will follow the Cambridge
Edition of the Works of Immanuel Kant, Allen Wood and Paul
Guyer, eds. (1992–). With two exceptions, works will be cited
using the abbreviations below along with the volume and page
number following the German Academy edition. The first
exception is the Critique of Pure Reason, where citations will use
the standard A/B edition format. The second exception is Religion
within the Boundaries of Mere Reason (6:3–202), where no identify-
ing abbreviation will precede the volume and page number.
AN Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View
BL Blomberg Logic
CF The Conflict of the Faculties
CJ Critique of Judgment
CPrR Critique of Practical Reason
DL Dohna-Wundlacken Logic
ET “The End of All Things”
GR Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals
ID “Idea for a Universal History with a Cosmopolitan Aim”
JL Jäsche Logic (aka, Immanuel Kants Logik ein Handbuch zu
Vorlesungen)
x
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
LR Lectures on the Philosophical Doctrine of Religion
MM Metaphysics of Morals
MT “On the Miscarriage of All Philosophical Trials in Theo-
dicy”
PP Towards Perpetual Peace
PT “On a Recently Prominent Tone of Superiority in Philo-
sophy”
Refl Reflexionen
RP “What Real Progress Has Metaphysics Made in Germany
since the Time of Leibniz and Wolff?”
TP “On the Common Saying: That May Be Correct in Theory
but Is of No Use in Practice”
VL Vienna Logic
WE “An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?”
WO “What Does It Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking?”