Compare and contrast the theories of religion espoused by Kant in
"Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason" and Soren Kierkegaard
in "Fear and Trembling". Specifically concerning Kant's formulation
of religion through reasonable intellectual understanding and
Kierkegaard's belief that we can know religion only through leaps of
faith (the leap past/over reason to belief).
Lando-ga:
Immanuel Kant's Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason
(1793-1794) and Soren Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling (1843) are both
significant works of general Western philosophy, and particularly of
modern Western religious philosophy. Both works continued the course
of modern Western thought by responding to presence and influence of
rationalism in Western thought. The response by Kant does differ from
the response offered later by Kierkegaard. Kant's response in Religion
Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason is one of modification by
application within the context of religious philosophy. In Fear and
Trembling Kierkegaard reacts vividly to a more rigid sense of
rationalism by placing religious philosophy beyond the context of
rationalism all together.
Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason bridged rationalism into
modern Western religious thought. The work also served Kant's
contribution to general modern Western philosophy by moving beyond the
means by which humans acquire knowledge to consider the process of how
knowledge impacts people once it is attained. In doing so, Immanuel
Kant anticipated the dialectical stages better associated with Georg
Hegel. Kant's depiction of what is truly, rationally, religious
emerges as a progression from individual acceptance to social
commitment.
In Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason Kant encouraged a
departure from religious traditions which are dependent on the
moralities of their historical origins. Rather, Kant proposed the
destination for the truly religious is an absolute, pure morality.
Kant's new religious paradigm starts with the rational individual. The
individual is seen as capable of instinctively recognizing and
rationally accepting absolute morality. However, the rational
individual is an integrated part of a rational society. The society is
possessed of the morality its individual members are committed to,
making the society virtuous. In Kant's view, society makes the
absolute morality the basis for moral law, which is not enforced by
secular institutions but is maintained by devoted observation. A
society's observance of moral law transforms it into what Kant terms
the "church invisible," and makes the vestiges of institutional
religions unnecessary. To Kant, a society's commitment to absolute
morality, defining of moral law, and maintained identity as a church
invisible was the culmination for religion in a rational world.
Where Immanuel Kant anticipated the dialectics of Hegel, Soren
Kierkegaard's Fear and Trembling was a response to Hegelian
rationalism that found it lacking where religion was concerned.
Kierkegaard wrote Fear and Trembling using the pseudonym "Johannes de
Silentio." He used the Biblical story of Abraham's willingness to
sacrifice his son Isaac to illustrate that true religion lies beyond
what is rational.
Abraham is an individual asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac as an
expression of faith. A society (certainly that of Kierkegaard's day)
would not endorse that irrational action. Yet, as an individual,
Abraham can make that decision. This is the non-rational leap of faith
that Abraham makes -- to give to God what he cannot afford to give,
all to express a relationship of faith. Kierkegaard presented God as
continuing the seeming absurdity of the relationship by returning what
the individual gives up without expectation of getting back. In
Abraham's case Isaac is spared.
In Kierkegaard's view the individual is more than an integrated part
of a social devotion to moral law. Instead, the individual is free to
pursue an individual relationship with God which repeats the leaps of
faith in sacrificing to God and the absurdity of God's restoration of
what is offered. To Kierkegaard, that individually based, ongoing
non-rational relationship with God is the religious life. The type of
ideal ethical society defined earlier by Kant is seen as secondary by
Kierkegaard. In Fear and Trembling, ethics are the high point of a
moral rationalism in society, but religion is something else. The book
contended that religion belonged to the individual and defied what was
rational.
These respective works by Immanuel Kant and Soren Kierkegaard
obviously contrast more notably than they compare. Still, both are
significant works of modern Western philosophy and modern Western
religious thought. Both assess religion's proper place under the
increasing influence of rationalism. The most significant differences
in the two works relate to the divergent answers the two philosophers
offer on that assessment. Kant places religion within a rational
context. Starting with the rational individual, he ultimately pointed
to a rational society observing an absolute moral law with full
commitment as the pinnacle of religion. Kierkegaard contended that
religion went beyond rationalism, and found expression in the
non-rational leaps of faith that individuals willingly made in a
relationship with God. That kind of relationship made religion a
hallmark of a non-rational quality of human existence. In Kant's sense
of religious commitment and Kierkegaard's expression of an individual
relationship with God, Western society's understanding of religion
advanced and grew more complex.
I sincerely hope this helps.
Regards,
Brettquest
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Sources and Links:
SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides
http://www.sparknotes.com/
SparkNotes: Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason -- General
Summary
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/religionboundaries/summary.html
SparkNotes: Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason -- Important
Terms
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/religionboundaries/terms.html
SparkNotes: Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason --
Philosophical Themes, Ideas, and Arguments
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/religionboundaries/themes.html
SparkNotes: Fear and Trembling -- Overall Summary
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/feartrembling/summary.html
SparkNotes: Fear and Trembling -- Overall Analysis and Themes
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/feartrembling/analysis.html
Spark Notes: Fear and Trembling -- Terms
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/feartrembling/terms.html
Philosophypages.com
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/index.htm
Philosophypages.com: Kant
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/kant.htm
Philosophypages.com: Kierkegaard
http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/kier.htm |
