God In The System Of Kant’s Critical Philosophy

Firstly, the study of Kant’s philosophy of religion has strong practical significance. Kant’s thoughts on God and religion are extremely rich. A deep and accurate understanding of Kant’s religious thinking will help us to understand why in the age of fast development of science and technology so many people are converted to religious faith.Secondly, though there have been some articles on Kant’s philosophy of religion in China in recent years, such as Li Qiulin’s "Kant on the relation between philosophy and theology(2008)", and Deng Xiaomang’s "The revelance of Kant’s philosophy of religion to us"(2003), Kant’s philosophy of religion is basically stereotyped, that is, it is taken as either the denial or the approval of God in Christianity. I think both interpretations are inadequate. Following Peter Byrne, I will offer a new interpretation of Kant’s conception of God. I hope my study will make people appreciate better Kant’s contribution to philosophy of religion.Kant’s philosophy of religion was traditionally interpreted as the undermining of the metaphysical basis of traditional theism by Heine, who "portrayed Kant as a kind of theological Robespierre, a soulless, ruthless, and incorruptible executioner of the Deity", as Allen Wood depicts in his work Kant’s Rational Theology. This interpretation is viewed as outdated in the current philosophical circle. Differing from the traditional interpretation, most philosophers in the Anglo-Saxon world, after reading Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft, claim that Kant’s philosophy of religion is in harmony with traditional Christian theology. I will call this standpoint the affirmative interpretation which argues that "Kant’s philosophy is religiously and theologically affirmative". Opposed to the first two interpretations, Peter Byrne goes the middle way and emphasizes "the subjectivist strands in Kant’s treatment of religion, even while it acknowledges contrary tendencies toward objectivism. There are strands that make the truth and meaning of religious affirmations relative to human needs. In the jargon of contemporary philosophy of religion, there is a strongly anti-realist thrust in Kant on God.’My study of Kant’s philosophy of religion can be taken as a further development of the achievement of Peter Byrne. I will concentrate on the regulative of God in Kant ’s philosophy and use it to analyze the religious arguments in his other works, especially in his Kritik der reinen Vernunft, Kritik der praklischen Vernunft, Krilik der Urteikraft and Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft. I will try to show that the God of Kant’s philosophy of religion belongs more to regulatively moral role than to constitution of knowledge. To achieve this goal, I will divide Kant’s philosophy into three parts, namely, theoretical philosophy, practical philosophy and religious philosophy, and will give a detailed exposition of each of them.My dissertation will have four chapters.1) Three interpretations of Kant’s philosophy of religion. I will examine first of all three interpretations of the Kant’s philosophy of religion, i.e., the traditional interpretation, the affirmative interpretation and Peter Byrne’s subjectivist interpretation. Also it is necessary to take a look at Kant’s relationship with Pietism and to give an account of Kant’s everyday life (shown by the letters to his friends) in light of his religious doctrines. Most importantly, I will introduce the distinction between regulative and constitutive.2) God in Kant’s theoretical philosophy. I will begin with a discussion of the Copernican Revolution in Kant’s critical philosophy on the basis of the distinction between phenomenon and thing-in-itself. After that, I will make a detailed analysis of Kant’s attack on the received proofs for God’s existence, namely, the ontological proof, the cosmological proof and the physico-theological proof. I will claim that in the realm of theoretical philosophy, the significance of God as morality plays the role of regulative principle rather than constitutive principle.3) God in Kant’s practical philosophy. I will first discuss reflective judgment which pursues the universal on the basis of the particular. Once we apply this principle to nature, we will find that nature can be seen as a product of an intelligent creator. However, the intelligent creator is not a living God, because what is involved here is not a determinate judgment but a reflective one. The function of the God postulated by Kant is to combine happiness and virtue.4) God in Kant’s philosophy of religion. I will focus on the status of God in Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft. This work is very influential and has aroused a great deal of discussion in contemporary philosophy of religion. In Kant’s opinion, God is the trinity of a holy lawgiver, a beneficent governor and a just judge.1believe that this should be interpreted in terms of regulative rather than constitutive.