Subjectivity and Irreligion: Atheism and Agnosticism in Kant, Schopenhauer, and Nietzsche (Ashgate New Critical Thinking in Philosophy)

This book asks specific philosophical questions about the underlying structure of Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's thoughts on atheism and agnosticism; thoughts that represent one of the most concerted attacks on monotheistic religion in modern philosophy. Yet commentators interested in philosophical atheism have frequently ignored this tradition. Matthew Ray concludes that Kant's moral theology is largely undersupported; Schopenhauer's metaphysical and ethical atheism is flawed in several areas; and Nietzsche's naturalistic attack on Christianity is only partially successful. Taking a critical stance toward the atheistic orthodoxy in modern philosophy, Ray argues that the question of God's existence remains characteristically unresolved in post-Kantian philosophy. This book asks specific philosophical questions about the underlying structure of Kant, Schopenhauer and Nietzsche's thoughts on atheism and agnosticism; thoughts that represent one of the most concerted attacks on monotheistic religion in modern philosophy. Yet commentators interested in philosophical atheism have ignored frequently this tradition. Matthew Ray concludes that Kant's moral theology is largely undersupported; Schopenhauer's metaphysical and ethical atheism is flawed in several areas; and Nietzsche's naturalistic attack on Christianity is only partially successful. Taking a critical stance toward the atheistic orthodoxy in modern philosophy, Ray argues that the question of God's existence remains characteristically unresolved in post-Kantian philosophy. Ray (U. of Bristol) finds Kant's tentative and quasi-existential moral theology to be largely unsupported philosophically; Schopenhauer's metaphysical and ethical atheism to be intriguing but flawed in several respects; and Nietzsche's peculiar naturalistic attack on Christianity to be only very partially successful. Therefore, he concludes, the question of God's existence remains pristinely unresolved despite the aggressively atheistic onslaught of post-Kantian philosophy. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR Generations of humanists, historical materialists, psychoanalysts, feminists and (more recently) sociobiologists have all seemingly immeasurably cheapened the concerns of religion in modern times.