The unity of strangers : spirit and letter in Kant's philosophy of religion
For Kant the religious is less an independent domain of consciousness with its own laws of synthesis than a contested territory which critique must defend against both the dogmatic pretensions of speculative philosophy and an ecclesiastical orthodoxy determined to deprive reason of its authority. The result is a religion within the limits of reason alone, a rational faith which resists the false promise of knowledge through transcendent revelation but yields a practical faith in the immanent field of action. It is traditionally asserted that Kant's rational faith is the most refined expression of the aporia at which the Enlightenment arrives when philosophy and religion, rational and positive authority, become opposed. This thesis addresses the way in which Kant's confidence in the idea of an invisible church as the natural meeting-place of religion and philosophy - and to which all belong by virtue of their reason - is modulated by his understanding of the necessity of the visible church as an institution that, given certain precautions, can mediate the political concern with coercive law and the philosophical concern with freedom. The thesis has an Introduction and a Conclusion. The main body of the text
Davidson, Hilary Scott
Immanuel Kant; Theology
The unity of strangers : spirit and letter in Kant's philosophy of religion. For Kant the religious is less an independent domain of consciousness with its own laws of synthesis than a contested territory which critique must defend against both the dogmatic pretensions of speculative philosophy and an ecclesiastical orthodoxy determined to deprive reason of its authority. The result is a religion within the limits of reason alone, a rational faith which resists the false promise of knowledge through transcendent revelation but yields a practical faith in the immanent field of action. It is traditionally asserted that Kant's rational faith is the most refined expression of the aporia at which the Enlightenment arrives when philosophy and religion, rational and positive authority, become opposed. This thesis addresses the way in which Kant's confidence in the idea of an invisible church as the natural meeting-place of religion and philosophy - and to which all belong by virtue of their reason - is modulated by his understanding of the necessity of the visible church as an institution that, given certain precautions, can mediate the political concern with coercive law and the philosophical concern with freedom. The thesis has an Introduction and a Conclusion. The main body of the text
unity stranger spirit letter kant_philosophy religion kant religious less independent domain consciousness law synthesis contest territory critique must defend dogmatic speculative_philosophy ecclesiastical orthodoxy determine deprive reason authority religion within limit reason alone rational faith resists false promise knowledge transcendent revelation yield practical faith immanent field action traditionally assert kant rational faith refine expression aporia enlightenment arrive philosophy_religion rational positive authority become opposed address way kant confidence idea invisible church natural meeting place religion_philosophy belong virtue reason modulate necessity visible church institution give certain precaution mediate political concern coercive law philosophical concern freedom introduction_conclusion main_body text