Kant's Transcendental Idealism, Freedom and the Divine Mind (original) (raw)
Related papers
Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason: FULL PDF
Ashgate, 2009
This book examines the transcendental dimension of Kant’s philosophy as a positive resource for theology. Firestone shows that Kant’s philosophy establishes three distinct grounds for transcendental theology and then evaluates the form and content of theology that emerges when Christian theologians adopt these grounds. to understand Kant’s philosophy as a completed process, Firestone argues, theologians must go beyond the strictures of Kant’s critical philosophy proper and consider in its fullness the transcendental significance of what Kant calls ‘rational religious faith’. This movement takes us into the promising but highly treacherous waters of Kant’s "Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason" to understand theology at the transcendental bounds of reason.
Kant and the Question of Theology: Title Page, Table of Contents, and Introduction
Kant the Question of Theology (Cambridge University Press, 2017), 2017
God is a problematic idea in Kant's terms, but many scholars continue to be interested in Kantian theories of religion and the issues that they raise. In these new essays, scholars both within and outside Kant studies analyze Kant's writings and his claims about natural, philosophical, and revealed theology. Topics debated include arguments for the existence of God, natural theology, redemption, divine action, miracles, revelation, and life after death. The volume includes careful examination of key Kantian texts alongside discussion of their themes from both constructive and analytic perspectives. These contributions broaden the scope of the scholarship on Kant, exploring the value of doing theology in consonance or conversation with Kant. It builds bridges across divides that often separate the analytic from the continental and the philosophical from the theological. The resulting volume clarifies the significance and relevance of Kant's theology for current debates about the philosophy of God and religion.
Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason
2016
Boundaries of reason this book examines the transcendental dimension of Kant's philosophy as a positive resource for theology. firestone shows that Kant's philosophy establishes three distinct grounds for transcendental theology and then evaluates the form and content of theology that emerges when Christian theologians adopt these grounds. to understand Kant's philosophy as a completed process, firestone argues, theologians must go beyond the strictures of Kant's critical philosophy proper and consider in its fullness the transcendental significance of what Kant calls 'rational religious faith'. this movement takes us into the promising but highly treacherous waters of Kant's Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason to understand theology at the transcendental boundaries of reason. Contents Preface and Acknowledgements vii Note on Kant Citations xi 1 Can theology go through Kant���� Can theology go through Kant���� 2 Knowledge and Cognition in Kant's theoretical Philosophy 1 Knowledge and Cognition in Kant's theoretical Philosophy 3 faith and Cognition in Kant's Philosophy of religion 4 Kant's Moral grounds for theology 6 Kant's Moral grounds for theology 5 Kant's Poetic grounds for theology 8 Kant's Poetic grounds for theology 6 Kant's ontological grounds for theology 11 Kant's ontological grounds for theology 7 rational religious faith and Kantian theology 13 rational religious faith and Kantian theology 8 Concluding Comments 16 Concluding Comments appendix a The Category of the 'Holy' in Rudolf Otto appendix B thinkers of todayrudolf otto-Philosopher of religion
Kant's Theoretical Conception of God
2017
My dissertation argues for the conceptual unity and historical continuity of Kant’s theoretical conception of God. It shows both the importance of the conception of God for understanding the development of Kant’s thought from the pre-critical onto the critical philosophy, and its significant role in the Kantian account of theoretical rationality. I maintain that there is a single idea that guided Kant in construing the metaphysical conception of God traceable early on from the pre-critical philosophy, that of grounding the unity and necessity of the laws of nature. I examine how Kant’s critical adaptation of this prevalent early modern rationalistic position enables him to transform the conception of God from an object of metaphysical inquiry into a regulative idea of reason. My interpretation thus explains the connection, mostly ignored in the literature, between the rationalist metaphysical conception of God and the regulative role it affords in the critical system.
Kant and the creation of freedom: a response to Terry Godlove
In his review of my book, Terry Godlove raises some robust objections to the exegesis of Kant that I present in my recent book, Kant and the Creation of Freedom: a Theological Problem (Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 2013). I respond to these criticisms in this article. Properly to locate Godlove's exegetical objections, I dedicate the first section to setting out the arc of the argument I trace. I then set out and treat in turn Godlove's main objections to my exegesis: that it depends upon an interpretation of transcendental idealism which makes the doctrine 'flatly inconsistent and probably just silly'; that I neglect the most plausible account interpretation of Kant's various statements about transcendental idealism; and that I 'pick and choose' supporting texts too narrowly, leading to an unbalanced presentation, which is too convenient to my thesis. I conclude with some general methodological reflections— stimulated by Godlove, but not aimed at him—about how historical philosophical texts are often treated. I express some anxieties about the principle of charity that underlies much current exegesis, and 'rational reconstruction' of historical texts, and I propose a case for what might be called 'creative decomposition' (not of the text, but of the self).
Intellectualism, Relational Properties and the Divine Mind in Kant's Pre-Critical Philosophy
Kantian Review, 2011
I demonstrate that the pre-Critical Kant is essentialist and intellectualist about the relational properties of substances. That is to say, God can choose whether or not to create a substance, and whether or not to connect this substance with other substances, so as to create a world: but God cannot choose what the nature of relational properties is, once the substance is created and connected. The divine will is constrained by the essences of substances. Nonetheless, Kant considers that essences depend upon God, in that they depend upon the divine intellect. I conclude by gesturing towards some possible implications of this interpretation, when considering the role that might be played by God - both historically and conceptually - in relation to the notion of 'laws of nature', and when understanding Kant's transcendental idealism and his Critical conception of freedom.
Kant and the Question of Theology, eds. Chris L. Firestone, Nathan A. Jacobs, and James H. Joiner (Cambridge University Press), 2017
Kant makes two points clear about his stance on divine revelation. First, one must never deny the possibility of divine revelation. Yet, Kant makes equally clear that were such revelation to occur, it could never be recognized as such. These two points reflect Kant’s dogmatic agnosticism: He is insistent that we never discount the possibility of divine revelation, but he is equally insistent that we can’t know whether such revelation has occurred. In this paper, I engage Kant’s assessment of divine revelation. My engagement consists of two parts. The first part simply examines the question Why? Why is Kant convinced that revelation cannot be rejected as impossible and yet cannot be recognized if it occurs? The second part of this paper looks at whether the view of revelation Kant critiques is true of every “revealed religion,” to use Kant’s term. Exploring every view of revelation in the history of religion is well beyond the confines of this paper. I will thus focus on divine revelation as understood in early Christianity by the Eastern Church fathers. From this investigation, I arrive at two conclusions. First, revelation as understood by Kant is so different from that of the-se early Christian writers that his arguments are irrelevant to their view. My second, far more provocative conclusion is this. Kant evidently wants to leave open the ontic window to the possibility of revelation, while shutting the epistemic window to its recognition. Yet, if revelation is what these Eastern Christians describe, then this cannot be done. By leaving open the ontic window, Kant must leave open the epistemic window as well. NOTE: The attached PDF is of the author MS, not the book proofs. However, the author has formatted the MS to ensure that its pagination coincides with the supplied proofs of the published version. The published essay appears in Kant and the Question of Theology, eds. Chris L. Firestone, Nathan A. Jacobs, and James Joiner (Cambridge University Press, 2018).