Hope, virtue, and the postulate of God: a reappraisal of Kant's pure practical rational belief

Without Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) there would probably be no modern discipline of 'the philosophy of religion'. Kant's considerable influence has ensured that philosophers, in addressing religious questions, have focused on such issues as arguments for and against the existence of God; the question of immortality; the compatibility of human evil and transcendent goodness; and the relationship between morality and the divine. Many books already explore the nature of his influence. But this one goes further. It argues that Kant's theoretical philosophy, also called 'the critical philosophy', contains resources that have much wider implications than just for Christianity, or for those philosophical issues that relate only to monotheism and its beliefs. For Terry F Godlove, Kant's insights run deeper, and properly applied can help rejuvenate our understanding of the general study of religious thought and its challenges. The author thus bypasses what is usually considered to be 'Kantian philosophy of religion', focusing instead on more fundamental issues: on Kant's account of experience, for example, and on his arguments that human perception of incomplete and finite concepts can nevertheless yield genuine knowledge and insight. Kant and Religion is a subtle and penetrating attempt, by a leading contemporary philosopher of religion, to redefine and reshape the contours of his own discipline through sustained reflection on Kant's so-called 'humanizing project'. Kant And Religion Is A Subtle And Penetrating Attempt, By A Leading Contemporary Philosopher Of Religion, To Redefine And Reshape The Contours Of His Own Discipline Through Sustained Reflection On Kant's So-called 'humanizing Project'. Machine Generated Contents Note: 1. Concepts -- I. Enough Is Not Everything -- Ii. The Spatial Theory Of Concepts -- Iii. Preliminary Implications -- 2. Definition -- I. Varieties Of Definition -- Ii. Religion In General -- Iii. Criticism -- Iv. Essentialism -- 3. Reason -- I. The Theorizing Mind -- Ii. Regulative And Constitutive -- Iii. Reconstruction -- Iv. A Ptolemaic Capstone -- 4. Experience -- I. Kant's Non-conceptualism -- Ii. On Religion -- Iii. Proudfoot's Criticisms -- Iv. The Christian Faith -- V. Dependence And Illusion -- 5. Self -- I. James, The Subjective, And The Social -- Ii. Kant On Self-awareness -- Iii. The Social Construction Of Apperception -- Iv. Varieties Of Conformity Today: Social, Religious, Epistemic -- 6. Meaning -- I. Explanations Of Meaning In Terms Of Use -- Ii. A Deflationary Account Of God -- Iii. From Philosophy Of Religion To Religious Studies. Terry F. Godlove. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 223-236) And Index. ## Abstract After identifying contrasting formulations of the practical postulates of reason in Kant's second critique, I analyse the context of each formulation, showing both how the postulate of the ‘possibility’ of God is consistent with Kant's understanding of a significant transition arising from practical needs as well as how the postulate of the existence of God can be seen as a ‘practical belief’ acting out a ‘hope’. My goal is to re-examine Kant's view of the relation between the practical and theoretical employments of reason in order to distinguish clearly between what Kant sees as__required__of the moral believer as opposed to__permitted__. Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction Concepts Definition Reason Experience Self Meaning Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index