Rereading Kant on immortality and the highest good
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21603308 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael R Morgan (0000-0002-6360-8756, Department of Philosophy University of Chicago Chicago Illinois USA, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 808-822 |
| Publication date | 2022-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | European Journal of Philosophy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0966-8373 • E-ISSN: 1468-0378 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ejop.12684 |
| OpenAlex | W3190697264 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 26 |
Kant's argument for belief in the immortality of the soul appears tenuous. The standard interpretation suggests that immortality is necessary because agents need an endless time in order to become holy (i.e., incapable of deviation from the moral law). Yet Kant elsewhere argues that sensible beings cannot be holy. This interpretation thus cannot make sense of Kant's insistence that agents become holy, supposing instead that this is an error on Kant's part. Against this reading, I argue that progress toward holiness is simply a definition of virtue, and that Kant's reference to it does not contradict itself by implying that sensible beings must become holy at some point in time. Drawing on Kant's account of the Gesinnung in the Religion , I then proceed to offer a novel reading as to why immortality is needed to secure the complete conformity of a disposition with the moral law
Epistemology · Immortality · Soul · Theology · Virtue · Philosophical Ethics and Theory · Philosophy · Theology and Philosophy of Evil · War, Ethics, and Justification
Critique of Pure Reason
Kant's Theory of Freedom
Religion and Rational Theology
Kants Gesammelte Schriften.
Kant's Ethical Thought
Kant, Mendelssohn, and Immortality
Belief in Kant
The Concept of the Highest Good in Kant's Moral Theory
Why Does Kant Think We Must Believe in the Immortal Soul
Kant's Quasi‐Transcendental Argument for a Necessary and Universal Evil Propensity in Human Nature
Kant’s Argument for Radical Evil
Kant's Gesinnung
The Highest Good in Kant’s Philosophy
Two Conceptions of the Highest Good in Kant
Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals
| Citations per year | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Highly cited | No |