-
130Kant on the Debt of SinFaith and Philosophy 29 (1): 30-52. 2012.Kant follows Christian tradition by asserting that humanity is sinful by nature, that our sinful nature burdens us with an infinite debt to God, and that it is possible for us to undergo a moral transformation that iberates us from sin and from its debt. Most of the secondary literature has focused on either Kant’s account of sin or our liberation from it. Far less attention has been paid to the debt in particular. The purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of this debt, why Kant regard…Read more
-
33Preparation for Natural Theology (edited book)Bloomsbury Academic. 2016.The aim of Kant’s Sources in Translation is to retrieve the rich intellectual world that influenced Kant’s philosophical development. In its first stage, the series makes available the most important textbooks Kant used throughout his long teaching career. Many of these textbooks are in Latin or in German and remain inaccessible to Anglophone readers. Lacking this material, however, it is difficult to appreciate Kant’s originality and process of philosophical maturation, for readers are unable t…Read more
-
62Immanuel Kant: Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals in Focus (edited book)Routledge. 2002._The Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals^ is one of the most important works of moral philosophy ever written, and Kant's most widely read work. It attempts to demonstrate that morality has its foundation in reason and that our wills are free from both natural necessity and the power of desire. It is here that Kant sets out his famous and controversial 'categorical imperative', which forms the basis of his moral theory. This book is an essential guide to the groundwork_ and the many importan…Read more
-
57Review: DiCenso, Kant's Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason: A Commentary (review)Kantian Review 18 (3): 479-483. 2013.
-
72Kant’s “Appraisal” of Christianity: Biblical Interpretation and the Pure Rational System of ReligionJournal of the History of Philosophy 53 (3): 485-506. 2015.The First Preface to Kant’s Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason contains various characterizations of the distinction between biblical and philosophical theology. Similar characterizations are also found in the Preface to The Conflict of the Faculties. In both, Kant warns the philosopher against trespassing into the purview of the biblical theologian. Yet, in the actual body of both texts, we find numerous occasions where Kant deviates from the rules he initially articulates. The purpo…Read more
-
16Intrinslc value and overridingness in kant’s groundworkSouthwest Philosophy Review 18 (1): 113-121. 2002.
-
78Can Self-Deception Explain Akrasia in Kant’s Theory of Moral Agency?Southwest Philosophy Review 15 (1): 87-97. 1999.
-
45This book offers a complete and internally cohesive interpretation of Religion. In contrast to the interpretations that characterize Religion as a litany of “wobbles”, fumbling between traditional Christianity and Enlightenment values, or a text that reduces religion into morality, the interpretation here offered defends the rich philosophical theology contained in each of Religion’s four parts and shows how the doctrines of the “Pure Rational System of Religion” are eminently compatible with th…Read more
-
124Regulative principles and ‘the wise author of nature’: Lawrence PasternackReligious Studies 47 (4): 411-429. 2011.There is much more said in the Critique of Pure Reason about the relationship between God and purposiveness than what is found in Kant's analysis of the physico-theological argument. The ‘Wise Author of Nature’ is central to his analysis of regulative principles in the ‘Appendix to the Transcendental Dialectic’ and also appears in the ‘Canon’, first with regards to the Highest Good and then again in relation to our theoretical use of purposiveness. This paper will begin with a brief discussion o…Read more
-
57Internal Realism and Twin EarthIdealistic Studies 31 (1): 73-80. 2001.This paper is structured as follows. First, it offers a brief presentation of the Twin Earth thought experiment. Second, it offers an interpretation of Putnam'santi-realism. Third, it argues for the incompatibility of anti-realism and the semantic role of extension that Twin Earth is supposed to establish.
-
144The Development and Scope of Kantian Belief: The Highest Good, The Practical Postulates and The Fact of ReasonKant Studien 102 (3): 290-315. 2011.This paper offers an account of the historical development of Kant's understanding of belief ( Glaube ) from its early ties to George Friedrich Meier's Auszug aus der Vernunftlehre through various stages of refinement. It will be argued that the Critique of Pure Reason reflects an important but not final stage in Kant's understanding of belief. Its structure is further refined and its scope narrowed in later works, including the Critique of Practical Reason and Critique of Judgment . After chart…Read more
-
5Kant’s Doctrinal Belief in GodIn Oliver Thorndike (ed.), Rethinking Kant: Volume 3, Cambridge Scholars Press. 2011.In the Canon of the Critique of Pure Reason, Kant endorses both a Moral Belief in God as well as what he there calls Doctrinal Belief. The former mode of belief is well known and can be found throughout the Kantian Corpus. The latter, however, is far more obscure and thus far has not been carefully studied. Doctrinal Belief only appears explicitly in the Canon, but is related to a number of issues in the Transcendental Dialectic as well as the Critique of Judgment. This paper will provide an…Read more
-
30Excerpt from the Doctrine of Reason (edited book). 2016.The aim of Kant’s Sources in Translation is to retrieve the rich intellectual world that influenced Kant’s philosophical development. In its first stage, the series makes available the most important textbooks Kant used throughout his long teaching career. Many of these textbooks are in Latin or in German and remain inaccessible to Anglophone readers. Lacking this material, however, it is difficult to appreciate Kant’s originality and process of philosophical maturation, for readers are unable t…Read more
-
1Kant’s Touchstone of Communication and the Public Use of ReasonSociety and Politics 8 (1): 78-91. 2014.Nearly all of the work that has been done on Kant’s conception of public reason has focused on its socio-political significance. John Rawls, Onora O’Neill and others have explored its relevance to a well ordered democracy, to pluralism, to toleration, and so on. However, the relevance of public reason for Kant is not limited to the socio-political. Kant repeatedly appeals to the “touchstone of communication” in relation to the normative side of his epistemology. The purpose of this paper is …Read more
-
827The ‘Two Experiments’ of Kant’s Religion: Dismantling the ConundrumKantian Review 22 (1): 107-131. 2017.The past decade has seen a sizable increase in scholarship on Kant’s Religion. Yet, unlike the centuries of debate that inform our study of his other major works, scholarship on the Religion is still just in its infancy. As such, it is in a particularly vulnerable state where errors made now could hinder scholarship for decades to come. It is the purpose of this paper to mitigate one such danger, a danger issuing from the widely assumed view that the Religion is shaped by “two experiments.” W…Read more
Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States of America
Areas of Specialization
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Philosophy of Religion |
Immanuel Kant |
Areas of Interest
Philosophy of Religion |
Meta-Ethics |
17th/18th Century Philosophy |
Immanuel Kant |
PhilPapers Editorships
Kant: Philosophy of Religion |