Kant's Philosophy Religion: The Relationship Between ... s Philosophy of Religion: The Relationship Between Ecclesiastical Faith ... The Relationship Between Ecclesiastical Faith

Kant's Philosophy of Religion: The Relationship Between Ecclesiastical Faith

and Reasoned Religion

Michelle A. Rochard

A Thesis

in

The Department

of

Philosophy

Presented in Par t ia l ~ulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at

Concordia University Montral, Qubec, Canada

September 1998

@ Michelle A. Rochard, 1998

National Library 1+1 dcanacia Bibliothbque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliographie Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395, nie Wellington Ottawa ON KYA O N 4 Ottawa ON K1A ON4 canada Canada

Your hie Voire rferenCe

Our hie Notre refdrence

The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accord une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant la National Library of Canada to Bibliothque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or sell reproduire, prter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thse sous paper or electronic formats. la forme de microfiche/film, de

reproduction sur papier ou sur format lectronique.

The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la proprit du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protge cette thse. thesis nor substantial extracts firom it Ni la thse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent tre imprims reproduced without the author's ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation.

Kant's Philosophy of Religion: The R e l a t i o n s h i p Between Ecclesiastical F a i t h

and Reasoned Rel ig ion

Michelle A. Rochard

I t i s my c o n t e n t i o n t h a t Kant rnakes an apparen t contradiction

i n Religion w i t h i n the Limits of Reason Alone w i t h respect to

t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between r ea son and Sc r ip tu r e . A t t h e o u t s e t

o f Religion Kant S t a t e s t h a t h e a i m s t o discover whether

reason can be f o u n d t o b e c o m p a t i b l e and a t o n e w i t h

S c r i p t u r e . Kant goes about showing that reason and Scripture

are u n i t e d , however, h e a l s o m a i n t a i n s that r e a s o n a n d

S c r i p t u r e a r e d i s t i n c t irorn each other. Hence, h e s e e m s t o

l and himself i n a c o n t r a d i c t i o n . It i s my i n t e n t i o n t o

examine t h i s a p p a r e n t c o n t r a d i c t i o n to see how and w h y Kant

both u n i t e s and d i s t i n g u i s h e s reason and S c r i p t u r e , and t o

s e e w h e t h e r t h i s c o n t r a d i c t i o n poses a problem o r i s

necessary t o Kant's t a s k .

iii

1 would like to thank Professor Vladimir Zeman for requiring his students of Kant to write prcis. It was through this tedious task that the philosophy of Kant finally (after a B.A. in Philosophy) began to make a little sense t o me. This tiny glimpse of understanding gave me, for the first time, the confidence to delve into Kant's philosophy, still with humility, but finally without fear. 1 would also like to thank Professor Zeman for allowing me free reign with this t h e s i s and encouraging me to develop rny own thoughts and ideas to see where 1 might take myself with this work.

1 w o u l d l i k e to extend m y sincere t h a n k s and appreciation to Professor Stanley French for al1 his interest and support over the past year. Working with him and learning from him helped to solidify my decision to continue in philosophy.

Of course, my greatest thanks must go to my parents. T h e i r support and f a i t h have allowed me to discover rny potentials and pursue my abilities. Finally, 1 would like to thank Darren for contributing to this thesis on a day-to-day basis in al1 the ways that are necessary yet invisible.

For O l i v e and Henry

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER

The Enlightenment and Reason

Reason and the Moral Law

The Pure Religion of Reason vs- Ecclesiastical Faith

TWO: THE COMPATIBILITY AND UNITY OF REASON AND S C R I P T U R E ~ * ~ o . - - * * ~ . . - -

Kant's System of Religion

Book One: 1s Human Nature Originally Good or Evil?

Book Two: How Can Good Combat E v i l ?

Hope

Book Three: The Ethical Commonwealth

Reason and Scripture United

THREE: THE NECESSARY DISTINCTION BETWEEN REASON ANDSCRIPTURE. . , . . , , ,

False and True Religion

Theology, Morality, and Religion

Kant's Definition of Religion: Revealed vs- Natural Religion

The Distinction between Reason and Scripture

FOUR: REASON AND SCRIPTURE UNITED AND DISTINCT,

What Kant Means by Unity

Unity Based on the Place of Morality

Completing Kant's Syst= of Religion: Book Four: Visible Church L i f e in Service to the Moral Good and the Pure Religion of Reason

A Looser Sense of Unity

A Necessary Contradiction?

vii

Two th ings f i l 1 the e n d w i t h ever new and increasinq wonder and a w e , the oftener and the more

steadily w e reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law w i t h i n me.

Critique of P r a c t i c a l Reason

INTRODUCTION

In the Preface to the Second Edition of ~ e l i g i o n w i t h i n

the L i m i t s of Reason ~ l o n e , ' Kant s t a t e s that his primary aim

or intention is to determine whether the pure religion of

reason, or, moral religion can be found to be compatible or

at one w i t h revealed religion, or, what may be called

historical, practical, ecclesiastical faith or Scripture.

Indeed, Kant attempts to establish how and why reason and

Scripture can be shown to be united to the extent that "he

who follows one ... will not fail to conform to the ~ther."~ However, after establishing an apparent unity between reason

and Scripture, Kant makes a clear and even adamant

distinction between moral religion and ecclesiastical faith

suggesting that ecclesiastical faith must be thought of in

contradistinction to pure moral religion. He notes that

there is only one true religion of reason which has to do

I m a n u e l Kant, R e l i g i o n within the L M t s of Reason Alone ( F i r s t E d i t i o n p u b l i s h e d i n 1 7 9 3 ; Second E d i t i o n publ i shed i n 1794), trans. Theodore M . Greene and Hoyt H . Hudson, (New York: Harper and Row, P u b l i s h e r s , 1960 ) , h e r e a f t e r r e f e r r e d to as Religion and i n f o o t n o t e references as "R" f o l l o w e d by the s t a n d a r d page number i n Greene and Hudson's e d i t i o n .

with moral disposition while ecclesiastical faith appeals

only to the senses. In this respect, ecclesiastical faith

remains always at a practical, phenomenal level, never

capable of reaching the heights of truly rational, moral

religion. Yet, Kant's aim is to show how revealed religion

or Scripture can be reasoned; he is attempting to show how

revealed religion can be brought w i t h i n the limits of reason

so that it can be united with the pure religion of reason,

It is my contention that Kant seems to land himself in an

apparent contradiction: o n the one hand, he a i m s to

demonstrate that reason is "not only compatible but at one"'

with Scripture; however, on the other hand, he wants to

m a i n t a i n that ecclesiastical faith is subordinate to pure

moral religion thereby rendering a clear distinction between

reason and Scripture . In order to understand how Kant establishes a unity and

at the same time a distinction between reason and Scripture,

it is necessary to place Kant's Religion in a philosophical

context. Although it is possible to approach Kant's

philosophy of religion from many different angles, it is my

intention to remain focused on specific philosophical

considerations. 1 will be interested in Kant's mm approach

to Religion to the extent that he extends his practical

philosophy to the realm of religion and theology, an

extension he already made in Grounding for the Metaphysics of

Morals and in the Critique of Practical ~eason . '

Immanuel Kant, Grounding for t h e Metaphysics of Morals in

f t is m y hope t a detennine and c l a r i fy h o w K a n t works

w i t h i n t h e l i r n i t s of h i s own p h i l o s o p h y ; that i s , his

approach to religion w i t h i n season's limits seems t o be

another attempt t o bridge t h e gap between t h e practical w o r l d

and t h e theoretical w o r l d . H a v i n g already establ ished God

and t h e H i g h e s t Good as rational p r inc ip le s towards which al1

h u m a n s strive i n t h e Critique of Practical Reason, Kant is

attempting to understand and justify our apparent need for a

re l ig ion w h i c h consists of practices, r i t u a l s , and S c r i p t u r a l

narratives t h a t are merely practical or sensory i n t h e sense

that they are o f t e n disconnected f r o m mora l i ty . A n d , even

when t h e s e practices are connected t o m o r a l i t y , why do w e

require such practices when our reason already directs us t o

the Highest Good?

W e s h o u l d n o t e that t h i q u e s t i o n represents t h e

c h a r a c t e r i s