Abstract

The body of critical literature on Kant's philosophy of history and religion is examined and criticized for its failure to recognize the consistency of Kant's thought. In opposition to it, a new interpretation based on the critical ideas of freedom, morality and teleology is proposed. The transition from the Critiques to history and religion is justified in terms of the notion of "a priori end" and through the recognition of evil. Kant's ideas are viewed in the historical context of Leibniz, Lessing and Herder. ;Kant conceives history as the process of self-creation whereby man overcomes the split within his being between the rational and sensible. Providence and freedom are complementary grounds of this process. Kant's views on biology and history rely on a revolutionary conception of time as a principle of internal development in life. The development of political wisdom and religious symbols add to rational thought an essentially historical dimension