Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion

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K ANT and the NEW PHILOSOPHY of RELIGION RELIGION R  E D I T E D B Y Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist While earlier work has emphasized Kant’s philosophy of religion as thinly disguised morality, this timely and original reappraisal of Kant’s philosophy of religion incorporates recent scholarship. In this volume, Chris L. Firestone, Stephen R. Palmquist, and the other contributors make a strong case for more specific focus on religious topics in the Kantian corpus. Main themes include the relationship between Kant’s philosophy of religion and his philosophy as a whole, the contemporary relevance of specific issues arising out of Kant’s philosophical theology, and the relationship of Kant’s philosophy to Christian theology. As a whole, this book capitalizes on contemporary movements in Kant studies by looking at Kant not as an anti-metaphysician, but as a genuine seeker of spirituality in the human experience. INDIANA Firestone and Palmquist Philosophy • Religion C O N T R I B U T O R S Michel Despland Gene Fendt Chris L. Firestone Elizabeth C. Galbraith Ronald M. Green John E. Hare Nathan Jacobs Gregory R. Johnson Charles F. Kielkopf Richard W. Mapplebeckpalmer Christopher McCammon Stephen R. Palmquist Philip J. Rossi Leslie Stevenson http://iupress.indiana.edu 1-800-842-6796 K ANT and the NEW PHILOSOPHY of RELIGION RELIGION R Chris L. Firestone is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Trinity International University. Stephen R. Palmquist is Associate Professor of Religion and Philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University. Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion—Merold Westphal, editor Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion Indiana Series in the Philosophy of Religion Merold Westphal, general editor Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion Edited by Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist Indiana University Press Bloomington and Indianapolis Indiana University Press 601 North Morton Street Bloomington, IN 47404-3797 USA http://iupress.indiana.edu Telephone orders 800-842-6796 Fax orders 812-855-7931 Orders by e-mail iuporder@indiana.edu ∫ 2006 by Indiana University Press All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences— Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kant and the new philosophy of religion / Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist, ed[itor]s. p. cm. — (Indiana series in the philosophy of religion) Includes index. isbn 0-253-34658-4 (hardcover : alk. paper) — isbn 0-253-21800-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Kant, Immanuel, 1724–1804. 2. Religion—Philosophy. I. Firestone, Chris L., date II. Palmquist, Stephen . III. Series. b2799.r4k355 2006 210%.92—dc22 2005016230 1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08 07 06 To our parents, Harold and Roberta, Richard and Dolores, for giving us living examples of how to respond constructively to the conflicts that inevitably arise as human beings together seek to realize a common vision. From the whole progress of our Critique, one will have sufficiently persuaded oneself: that, even though metaphysics cannot be the foundation of religion, it must always stand firm as its fortification, and that human reason . . . could never do without such a science [i.e., metaphysics, tempered by Critique], which restrains it and . . . holds off the devastations that a lawless speculative reason, otherwise entirely infallible, would produce in morality as well as religion. —Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (A849/B877) [S]o I will inevitably believe in the existence of God and a future life, and I am sure that nothing can make this belief waver, because my moral principles themselves, which I cannot renounce without becoming detestable in my own eyes, would thereby be overthrown. —Kant, Critique of Pure Reason (A828/B856) ...