Comprehensive Commentary on Kant's Religion Within the Bounds of Bare Reason - Stephen R Palmquist

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Résumé :

Preface x

Acknowledgments xxiii

Abbreviations xxvi

Introduction: The Hermeneutic Background to Kant's Religion: The Two Prefaces (R 3-14) 1

1. Kant's private beliefs and the writing of Religion 1

2. The 1793 Preface: (A) Religion as the final purpose of morality 7

3. The 1793 Preface: (B) Unifying philosophical and biblical theology 21

4. The 1794 Preface: Two experiments and Kant's responses to critics 31

Part I: Human Nature's Transcendental Problem: Evil and the Boundary of Goodness (First Piece) 41

1 The Original Goodness of Human Nature: Introduction, Comment, and Section I (R 19-28) 43

1. Untitled introduction: Is humanity good or evil by nature? 43

2. Comment: (A) Why moral neutrality is impossible 51

3. Comment: (B) Could humans be partly good and partly evil? 59

4. Section I: Human nature's original predisposition is good 63

2 The Propensity to Evil in Human Nature: Sections II and III (R 28-39) 72

1. Section II: (A) Three sources of moral evil 72

2. Section II: (B) Defining evil as a perversion of moral reasoning 78

3. Section III: (A) Empirical evil and its origin on the boundary 83

4. Section III: (B) The need for (and form of) an a priori proof 92

3 Evil's Rational Origin and the Hope for Recovery: Sections IV and V (R 39-52) 106

1. Section IV: (A) Transcendental versus empirical origins 106

2. Section IV: (B) Assessing the Bible's account of evil's origin 112

3. Section V: (A) Divine aid and conversion's possibility 120

4. Section V: (B) God's role in transforming moral character 133

Appendix I: Experiencing the Effects of Grace against Evil: The First General Comment (R 52-3) 144

Part II: The Individual's Logical Struggle: The Power of Belief in Divine Aid (Second Piece) 151

4 The Personified Idea of the Good Principle: Introduction and Section One, Subsections A and B (R 57-66) 153

1. Untitled introduction: How to distinguish evil from good 153

2. Section One, A: The archetype of perfection as a divine gift 161

3. Section One, B: (A) Becoming exemplary via practical faith 166

4. Section One, B: (B) An archetypal person's twofold nature 169

5 Legitimizing Hope in Divine Grace: Section One, Subsection C (R 66-78) 179

1. First difficulty: How can imperfect beings become holy? 179

2. Second difficulty: Can we be certain of our eternal destiny? 183

3. Third difficulty: How can God punish pre?]conversion evil? 195

4. Overview: Grace as the basis for a legal claim to being good 207

6 Biblical Symbols of the Struggle with Evil: Section Two (R 78-84) 215

1. The Genesis narrative on evil's legal claim to dominion 215

2. Advent of a unique person, free from the propensity to evil 218

3. In what sense does the crucifixion defeat the power of evil? 223

4. The narrative's rational meaning 227

Appendix II: Experiencing Miracles as Self?]Negating: The Second General Comment (R 84-9) 233

Part III: The Community's Empirical Victory: The Church as Historical Vehicle for Good (Third Piece) 249

7 The Founding of a True Church: Introduction and Division One, Sections I-V (R 93-109) 251

1. Untitled introduction: Hope for victory in struggling with evil 251

2. Division One, Sections I-III: Founding the ethical community 255

i. Sections I and II: The duty to leave the state of nature 255

ii. Section III: An ethical community requires God 263

3. Division One, Sections IV-V: Establishing a true church 267

i. Section IV: The four requirements for church organization 267