Lectures on Philosophical Theology

by Immanuel Kant, Allen W. Wood (Translator), Gertrude M. Clarke (Translator)

"Lectures on Philosophical Theology is an indispensable addition to Kant's works in English. It has not been previously translated, and even though it is compiled from lecture notes, it provides information on Kant's views not previously available in English."―Philosophical Books

Genres: Philosophy, Theology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1784

About the author

Immanuel Kant was an 18th-century philosopher from Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia). He's regarded as one of the most influential thinkers of modern Europe & of the late Enlightenment. His most important work is The Critique of Pure Reason, an investigation of reason itself. It encompasses an attack on traditional metaphysics & epistemology, & highlights his own contribution to these areas. Other main works of his maturity are The Critique of Practical Reason, which is about ethics, & The Critique of Judgment, about esthetics & teleology.

Pursuing metaphysics involves asking questions about the ultimate nature of reality. Kant suggested that metaphysics can be reformed thru epistemology. He suggested that by understanding the sources & limits of human knowledge we can ask fruitful metaphysical questions. He asked if an object can be known to have certain properties prior to the experience of that object. He concluded that all objects that the mind can think about must conform to its manner of thought. Therefore if the mind can think only in terms of causality–which he concluded that it does–then we can know prior to experiencing them that all objects we experience must either be a cause or an effect. However, it follows from this that it's possible that there are objects of such a nature that the mind cannot think of them, & so the principle of causality, for instance, cannot be applied outside experience: hence we cannot know, for example, whether the world always existed or if it had a cause. So the grand questions of speculative metaphysics are off limits, but the sciences are firmly grounded in laws of the mind. Kant believed himself to be creating a compromise between the empiricists & the rationalists. The empiricists believed that knowledge is acquired thru experience alone, but the rationalists maintained that such knowledge is open to Cartesian doubt and that reason alone provides us with knowledge. Kant argues, however, that using reason without applying it to experience will only lead to illusions, while experience will be purely subjective without first being subsumed under pure reason. Kant’s thought was very influential in Germany during his lifetime, moving philosophy beyond the debate between the rationalists & empiricists. The philosophers Fichte, Schelling, Hegel and Schopenhauer saw themselves as correcting and expanding Kant's system, thus bringing about various forms of German Idealism. Kant continues to be a major influence on philosophy to this day, influencing both Analytic and Continental philosophy.

Reviews

[Aung Sett Kyaw Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little rough around the edges especially with respect to Kant's own mature views on the cause of 'moral evil' as he would later elaborate in the first few chapters of Religion Within the Bounds of Mere Reason (i.e. moral evil isn't caused by mere creaturely defect or limitation as Kant makes it out to be in these lectures but rather an atemporal propensity/act committed by the species-being). Kant is led to this daring conclusion in spite (or rather) because of his stubborn insistence on the superiority of practical over speculative or theoretical reason

[Jack Goldman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel the 3 stars are undeserved but the reason I gave them is cause Kant makes me feel stupid but I kinda love him for that. Some really abstract stuff in this book it talks about moon men, yes, Moon men. But when things click in this book it’s actually a phenomenal read and it actually cleared quite a few things up for me as well. I think Kant in this book was brutal to Spinoza tearing pantheism up I’m sure there are valid Defenses to his criticisms though. I like being able to spot Humes influence creep up as well though Kant even fights Humes views as well. I’m writing off the top of my head here but it varies from a great read to a little defeating the Latin phrases were messing with my mind quite a lot. One thing I think Kant is incredible at though is defining words he can do that incredibly well and I just kinda marvel at it. So overall the read varies for me but I seriously enjoyed it don’t let my 3 stars fool you

[Jooseppi Räikkönen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, moderately approachable text on both Kant's views on the moral argument for God's existence and his critiques of physicotheology etc.

Benefits are clarity over painfully obscure stuff like the methodology of teleological judgement, but downsides include the fact that Kant will heavily revise his views in later texts like the Religion in the Bounds of Mere Reason. Overall, would recommend for people wishing to get very into Kant. Also has a cheeky guess that there are probably people living on the moon, so that's a bonus.

[Harrison DeWalt · Rating 4 out of 5]

i still don’t know what entis originarii means and at this point i’m too scared to ask

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four and a half years at Union Theological Seminary, the study of analytical psychology and the reading of Kant's Critiques in this academic context led to my coming to describe myself as a Neo-Kantian and to continue reading his work after graduation. One of the books which had most impressed me at seminary was his Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone. This, based on a lecture series presented in 1783/84 as well as including his "A History of Natural Theology" as an appendix, presented an opportunity to further meditate on his appropriation of Christianity.