Kant and Rousseau on the critique of philosophical theology: The primacy of practical reason
Sophia 48 (2):179-193 (2009)
Abstract
This paper explores the Rousseauian background to Kant’s critique of metaphysics and philosophical theology. The core idea is that the rejection of metaphysics and philosophical theology is part of a turn from theoretical to practical reason influential on European philosophy of religion, a turn we associate with Kant but that is prefigured by Rousseau. Rousseau is not, however, a thinker normally associated with the notion of metaphysical criticism, nor the notion of the primacy of practical reason. The paper draws out this dimension of Rousseau’s thinking and its importance for Kantian thought. It will proceed by discussing the Kant-Rousseau connection; demonstrate the importance of practical philosophy for Kant and the critical project generally; overview Kant’s critique of metaphysics; and turn to a consideration of Rousseau, particularly from the text Émile . Given the indisputable influence of Rousseau on Kant, the purpose of this paper is to explore the ways that Rousseau’s own rejection of philosophical theology might be suggestive to those interested in Kant and the way in which it throws new light on Kant’s philosophy of religion. As well as drawing out the Kant-Rousseau connection, it also, implicitly, defends the general orientation of these philosophers as one that is important, perhaps vital, to philosophy of religion.Author's Profile
DOI
10.1007/s11841-009-0101-z
My notes
Similar books and articles
Rousseau, Kant, and philosophical auto-criticism : the practical ends of critical thinking.Philip Quadrio - 2012 - In Ruth Sonderegger & Karin de Boer (eds.), Conceptions of Critique in Modern and Contemporary Philosophy. Palgrave-Macmillan.
Kant's account of nature's systematicity and the unity of theoretical and practical reason.Lara Ostaric - 2009 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 52 (2):155 – 178.
Kant on the Unity of Theoretical and Practical Reason.Pauline Kleingeld - 1998 - Review of Metaphysics 52 (2):500-528.
Fichte's transcendental theology.Benjamin D. Crowe - 2010 - Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie 92 (1):68-88.
Critique of Practical Reason, and Other Writings in Moral Philosophy.Immanuel Kant - 1949 - Garland.
The Antinomies of Impure Reason: Rousseau and Kant on the Metaphysics of Truth‐Telling.Rebecca Kukla - 2005 - Inquiry: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Philosophy 48 (3):203 – 231.
Analytics
Added to PP
2009-05-04
Downloads
117 (#108,330)
6 months
3 (#226,063)
2009-05-04
Downloads
117 (#108,330)
6 months
3 (#226,063)
Historical graph of downloads
Author's Profile
Citations of this work
Sources of Kant’s Cosmopolitanism: Basedow, Rousseau, and Cosmopolitan Education.Georg Cavallar - 2013 - Studies in Philosophy and Education 33 (4):369-389.
Morality, Politics and Mytho-Poetic Discourse in the Oldest System-Programme for German Idealism: The Rousseauian Answer to a Contemporary Question. [REVIEW]Philip Andrew Quadrio - 2011 - Sophia 50 (4):625-640.
The Concept of Freedom by J. J. Rousseau.Lelia E. Profili - 2020 - Eidos: Revista de Filosofía de la Universidad Del Norte 32:231-250.
References found in this work
The Fate of Reason: German Philosophy From Kant to Fichte.Frederick C. Beiser - 1987 - Harvard University Press.