Kant and Kierkegaard on Religion Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Religion General Editors: D. Z. Phillips, Rush Rhees Research Professor, Umversity of Wales, Swansea and Danforth Professor of the Philosophy of Religion, the Claremont Graduate School, California; Timothy Tessin At a time when discussions of religion are becoming increasingly specialized and determined by religious affiliations, it is important to maintain a forum for philosophical discussion which transcends the allegiances of belief and unbelief. This series affords an opportunity for philosophers of widely differing persua­ sions to explore central issues in the philosophy of religion. Titles include: Stephen T. Davis (editor) PHILOSOPHY AND THEOLOGICAL DISCOURSE D. Z. Phillips (editor) CAN RELIGION BE EXPLAINED AWAY? D. Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin (editors) KANT AND KIERKEGAARD ON RELIGION RELIGION WITHOUT TRANSCENDENCE? RELIGION AND HUME'S LEGACY Timothy Tessin and Mario von der Ruhr (editors) PHILOSOPHY AND THE GRAMMAR OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Religion Series Standing Order ISBN 978-0-333-71465-2 (outside North America only) You can receive future titles m this senes as they are published by placmg a standmg order. Please contact your bookseller or, m case of difficulty, write to us at the address below With your name and address, the title of the series and the ISBN quoted above. Customer ServiCes Department, Macmillan DistributiOn Ltd, Houndmills, Basmgstoke, Hampshue RG21 6XS, England Kant and Kierkegaard on Religion Edited by D. Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin First published in Great Bntain 2000 by MACMILLAN PRESS LTD Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and London Companies and representatives throughout the world A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 978-0-333-79023-6 First published in the United States of America 2000 by ST. MARTIN'S PRESS, INC., Scholarly and Reference Division, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 ISBN 978-1-349-62908-4 ISBN 978-1-349-62906-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-1-349-62906-0 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kant and Kierkegaard on religion / edited by D.Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin. p. cm. - (Claremont studies in the philosophy of religion) Includes bibliographical references and index. I. Kant, Immanuel, 1724-1804-Religion-Congresses. 2. Kierkegaard, Siilren, 1813-1855-Religion-Congresses 3. Religion-Philosophy-History­ -Congresses. I. Phillips, D. Z. (Dewi Zephaniah) II. Tessin, Timothy. III. Series. B2799.R4 K35 2000 210'.92'2-dc21 99-086014 Selection and editorial matter © D. Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin 2000 Text © Claremont Graduate School 2000 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2000 978-0-312-23234-4 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or m accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be Identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustamed forest sources. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 Contents Acknowledgements vii Notes on the Contributors viii Introduction: Why Kant and Kierkegaard? xi D. Z. Phillips Part I Kant, Kierkegaard and Metaphysics 1 1 Kant and Kierkegaard on the Possibility of Metaphysics 3 C. Stephen Evans 2 Kant and Kierkegaard on the Possibility of Metaphysics - a Reply to Professor Evans 25 Michael Weston Voices in Discussion 45 D. Z. Phillips Part II Leaving Room for Faith 53 3 Faith Not without Reason: Kant, Kierkegaard and Religious Belief 55 Jerry H. Gill 4 Making Room for Faith - Possibility and Hope 73 M. Jamie Ferreira Voices in Discussion 89 D. Z. Phillips Part III The Individual 93 5 The Individual' in Kant and Kierkegaard 95 R. Z. Friedman 6 'The Individual' in Kant and Kierkegaard- a Reply 107 Hilary Bok Voices in Discussion 122 D. Z. Phillips v vi Contents Part IV Religion and Morality 129 7 Kant and Kierkegaard on the Need for a Historical Faith: an Imaginary Dialogue 131 Ronald M. Green 8 The Ethical and the Religious as Law and Gospel 153 Jack Verheyden Voices in Discussion 178 D. Z. Phillips Part V Eternal Life 185 9 Kant and Kierkegaard on Eternal Life 187 John H. Whittaker 10 Kant and Kierkegaard on Eternal Life- a Reply 207 Mario von der Ruhr Voices in Discussion 236 D. Z. Phillips Part VI Philosophy of Religion after Kant and Kierkegaard 243 11 Philosophy of Religion after Kant and Kierkegaard 245 Stephen Palmquist 12 Kant's Divine Command Theory and its Reception within Analytic Philosophy 263 John E. Hare 13 Dialectic of Salvation in Solidarity 278 Anselm Kyongsuk Min Voices in Discussion 295 D. Z. Phillips Index 301 Acknowledgements The symposia in the present collection were presented at the 1998 Philosophy of Religion conference at Claremont Graduate University. These conferences, the present one being held, the past one being seen through the press, and the future one being planned, need administrat­ ive support each side of the Atlantic. I am extremely grateful to Helen Baldwin, Secretary to the Department of Philosophy, University of Wales, Swansea, and to Jackie Huntzinger, Secretary to the Department of Religion, Claremont Graduate University, for all their help. I also want to thank the invaluable help given by graduate students during the conference. Special thanks are due to my research assistant John Lee for organizing this help so ably. The conference would not be possible without financial support. I gratefully acknowledge the generosity of Claremont Graduate Univer­ sity, Pomona College, and Claremont McKenna College in this respect. Most of the royalties from Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Reli­ gion go to the fund which supports the conferences. I am grateful to the participants, not only for their contributions, but for their agreement which makes this support possible. D. Z. P. Claremont vii Notes on the Contributors Hilary Bok is Associate Professor of Philosophy at Pomona College. She is the author of Freedom and Responsibility. C. Stephen Evans is Professor of Philosophy and Dean for Research and Scholarship at Calvin College. His recent publications include The His­ torical Christ and the Jesus of Faith, Passionate Reason and Faith Beyond Reason. M. Jamie Ferreira is a Professor of Philosophy of Religion in the Depart­ ments of Religion and Philosophy, University of Virginia. She is the author of Doubt and Religious Commitment: the Role of the Will in Newman's Thought, Scepticism and Reasonable Doubt: the British Naturalist Tradition and Transforming Vision: Imagination and Will in Kierkegaardian Faith. R. Z. Friedman is Associate Professor of Philosophy, University of Toronto. His publications include papers on Kant, Kierkegaard, Mai­ monides, Freud and Nietzsche. jerry H. Gill is semi-retired and is presently Adjunct Professor of Philo­ sophy and Religious Studies at Pima County Community College and Academic Co-ordinator of Borderlands Theological Center, both in Tuc­ son, Arizona. His publications include A Mediated Transcendence: a Post­ Modern Reflection, Learning to Learn: Towards a Philosophy of Education, Merleau-Ponty and Metaphor, If a Chimpanzie Could Talk and Other Reflec­ tions on Language and The Tacit Mode: Michael Polanyi's Post-Modem Philo­ sophy. Ronald M. Green is John Phillips Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College and Director of Dartmouth's Ethics Institute. His publications include Religion and Moral Reason, Kierkegaard and Kant: the Hidden Debt and over a hundred papers in scholarly journals. john Hare teaches at Calvin College, Michigan. He is the author of The Moral Gap: Kantian Ethics, Human Limits and God's Assistance and papers in scholarly journals on Augustine, Kant and Kierkegaard. viii Notes on the Contributors ix Anselm Kyongsuk Min is Professor of Religion at Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of Dialectic of Salvation: Issues in Theology of Liberation and co-author of Korean Catholicism in the 1970's. He has pub­ lished numerous articles on Hegel, Levinas, religious pluralism and vari­ ous areas of systematic theology. Stephen Palmquist is Associate Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Hong Kong Baptist University. His publications include Kant's System of Perspectives, Four Neglected Essays by Immanuel Kant and The Tree of Philosophy. As well as many scholarly papers, mostly on Kant, he has also constructed an award-winning web site, located at http:// www.hkbu.edu.hk/-ppp/. D. Z. Phillips is Danforth Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Clare­ mont Graduate University and Rush Rhees Research Professor, Univer­ sity of Wales, Swansea. He is the author of The Concept of Prayer, Faith and Philosophical Enquiry, Death and Immortality, Moral Practices (with H. 0. Mounce), Sense and Delusion (with Ilham Dilman), Athronyddu am Grefydd, Through a Darkening Glass, Belief, Change and Forms of Life, R. S. Thomas: Poet of the Hidden God, Faith After Foundationalism, From Fantasy to Faith, Interventions in Ethics, Wittgenstein and Religion, Writers of Wales: f. R. Jones, Introducing Philosophy, Recovering Religious Concepts and Philo­ sophy's Cool Place. He is editor of Swansea Studies in Philosophy, of Claremont Studies in the Philosophy of Religion, and of the journal, Philosophical Investigations. He is editing the work of Rush Rhees. Mario von der Ruhr is Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of Wales, Swansea.