Freedom and Religion in Kant and His Immediate Successors : The Vocation of Humankind, 1774–1800

The theologians of the late German Enlightenment saw in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason a new rational defence of their Christian faith. In fact, Kant's critical theory of meaning and moral law totally subverted the spirit of that faith. This challenging new study examines the contribution made by the Critique of Pure Reason to this change of meaning. George di Giovanni stresses the revolutionary character of Kant's critical thought but also reveals how this thought was being held hostage to unwarranted metaphysical assumptions that caused much confusion and rendered the First Critique vulnerable to being reabsorbed into modes of thought typical of Enlightenment popular philosophy. Amongst the striking features of this book are nuanced interpretations of Jacobi and Reinhold, a lucid exposition of Fichte's early thought, and a rare, detailed account of Enlightenment popular philosophy. Philosophy # Hardcover: 388 pages # Publisher: Cambridge University Press (February 7,2005) # Language: English # ISBN-10: 0521844517 # ISBN-13: 978-0521844512 Half-title 3 Title 5 Copyright 6 Dedication 7 Contents 9 Preface 11 Abbreviations 17 1 Introduction 19 1.1 THE THEME 19 1.2 THE SYSTEM 24 1.3 THE PRESENCE OF JACOBI 28 1.4 POLEMICAL NOTES 34 1.5 THE ISSUE OF RELIGION 42 1.6 MAPPING OUT THE STORY 46 2 The Taming of Kant 50 2.1 THE BRILLIANT IMMODESTY OF KANT 50 2.2 POPULAR PHILOSOPHY 55 2.3 POPULAR PHILOSOPHY AND THE CRITIQUE OF REASON 67 2.4 THE CULTURE OF FEELING 73 2.5 THE RETURN TO LEIBNIZ 76 2.6 LEIBNIZ VERSUS KANT? 80 3 The Intractable Kant 84 3.1 THE CANONICAL INTERPRETATION 84 3.2 JACOBI’S REALISM 95 3.2.1 Polemical Notes 95 3.2.2 Jacobi’s Theory of Experience 98 3.2.3 Jacobi on Reason: The Nature of ‘Common Sense’ 103 3.3 REINHOLD’S PASTICHE 109 3.3.1 Reinhold’s Insights 110 3.3.2 Reinhold’s Bad Arguments 115 3.4 THE SPECTER OF NATURALISM 122 4 Of Human Freedom and Necessity 126 4.1 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE 126 4.2 REINHOLD VERSUS SCHMID 136 4.3 REHBERG AND KANT 143 4.3.1 Introducing Rehberg 143 4.3.2 Rehberg’s Antimetaphysics 145 4.3.3 Rehberg’s Criticism of Kant and Reinhold 151 4.4 JACOBI ON SPINOZISM AND HUMAN FREEDOM 155 4.4.1 Of Things Spinozistic 155 4.4.2 Of Human Freedom 161 4.5 JACOBI, REHBERG, AND REINHOLD VERSUS KANT 168 5 Kant’s Moral System 170 5.1 THE DOGMATISM OF THE CRITIQUE OF REASON 171 5.1.1 Logical Issues: What Can I Know? 174 5.1.2 Practical Issues: What Must I Do? 181 5.1.3 Emotional Issues: What Must I Believe? What Can I Hope for? 199 5.2 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO KANT 204 5.2.1 Radical Evil 204 5.2.2 Redemption and Salvation 212 5.3 KANT’S WAY 220 6 The Difference That Fichte Made 223 6.1 THE DEBATE ON FREEDOM, CONTINUED 223 6.2 THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO FICHTE 228 6.2.1 Theory of ‘Revelation’ 228 6.2.2 Theory of the ‘Will’ 233 6.3 REINHOLD ON FICHTE AND KANT 243 6.4 THE SCANDAL THAT FICHTE WAS 255 7 The Parting of the Ways 260 7.1 ANNO DOMINI 1799 260 7.2 REINHOLD CONVERTS AGAIN 262 7.2.1 The Paradoxes of the New Philosophy 263 7.2.2 Fichte Explained to Pious Lavater 270 7.2.3 Hegelian Intimations and Masonic Efforts 276 7.3 JACOBI’S CRI DE CŒUR 282 7.4 KANT’S ANATHEMA 287 8 The Vocation of Humankind Revisited,1800 289 8.1 NEW BOOK, OLD THEMES 290 8.2 THE CRITICS, OLD AND NEW 303 8.3 BACK TO THE BEGINNING 311 Notes 319 Chapter 1 319 Chapter 2 324 Chapter 3 332 Chapter 4 338 Chapter 5 343 Chapter 6 347 Chapter 7 354 Chapter 8 358 Bibliography 365 1. Primary Sources 365 2. Secondary Sources 374 Index 379 The Theologians of the late German Enlightenment saw in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason a new rational defense of their Christian faith. In fact, Kant's critical theory of meaning and moral law totally subverted the spirit of that faith.This challenging new study examines the contribution made by the Critique of Pure Reason to this change of meaning. George di Giovanni stresses the revolutionary character of Kant's critical thought but also reveals how this thought was being held hostage to unwarranted metaphysical assumptions that caused much confusion and rendered the first Critique vulnerable to being reabsorbed into modes of thought typical of Enlightenment popular philosophy.Among the striking features of this book are nunanced interpretations of Jacobi and Reinhold, a lucid exposition of Fichte's early thought, and a rare, detailed account of Enlightenment popular philosophy. "The theologians of the late German Enlightenment saw in Kant's Critique of Pure Reason a new rational defense of their Christian faith. In fact, Kant's critical theory of meaning and moral law totally subverted the spirit of that faith." "This new study examines the contribution made by the Critique of Pure Reason to this change of meaning. George di Giovanni stresses the revolutionary character of Kant's critical thought but also reveals how this thought was being held hostage to unwarranted meta-physical assumptions that caused much confusion and rendered the first Critique vulnerable to being reabsorbed into modes of thought typical of Enlightenment popular philosophy."--BOOK JACKET George Di Giovanni. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 347-359) And Index.