Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-x4r87 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T06:46:58.046Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 12 - Culture and the limits of practical reason in Kant’s Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 May 2014

Gordon Michalson
Affiliation:
New College, Florida
Get access

Summary

The fate of metaphysics is inextricably linked to the fates of morality and religion, in that speculative reason proceeding in lawless fashion endangers both the practical realm or the interests of human beings and speculative inquiry itself, to which the philosopher is attached as to a beloved. Immanuel Kant's view of reason's highest interest in purposive unity grounded in freedom relates directly to some of his definitions of philosophy and the philosopher. Historical religion accordingly focuses on practices of praising supposed superhuman powers and interprets virtue as being pleasing to them, and thereby it is a prime manifestation of moral evil, as the subordination of compliance with the pure moral law to maxims of self-love. It could be said that Kant engages in another philosophic-poetic use of analogy to illuminate the highest mysteries when he characterizes the propensity to evil as the "intelligible deed".
Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2014

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×