Terry F. Godlove discovers in Immanuel Kant's theoretical philosophy resources that have much wider implications beyond Christianity and the philosophical issues that concern monotheism and its beliefs. For Godlove, Kant's insights, when properly applied, can help rejuvenate our understanding of the general study of religion and its challenges. He therefore bypasses what is usually considered to be the "Kantian philosophy of religion" and instead focuses on more fundamental issues, such as Kant's account of concepts, experience, and reason and their significance in controversial matters. Kant and the Meaning of Religion is a subtle and penetrating effort by a leading contemporary philosopher of religion to redefine and reshape the contours of his discipline through a sustained reflection on Kant's so-called "humanizing project."
Price: $32.00
Pages: 192
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Imprint: Columbia University Press
Publication Date:
26 August 2014
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780231170338
Format: Paperback
This is a distinctive and original contribution to the current interest in Kant's relevance for philosophy of religion. Rather than focusing on Kant's concept of God and philosophical theology, Godlove shows how his epistemology and reflection on the role of concepts in experience can illumine topics in the study of religion. His reading of Kant is informed by issues raised by Nietzsche, Geuss, Brandom, and McDowell, among others, and by recent theorists of religion. I recommend it highly.
Terry F. Godlove is professor of philosophy and religion at Hofstra University. His previous books include Religion, Interpretation, and Diversity of Belief: The Framework Model from Kant to Durkheim to Davidson and Teaching Durkheim.
Preface and Acknowledgements
Introduction
1. Concepts
I. Enough is Not Everything
II. The Spatial Theory of Concepts
III. Preliminary Implications
2. Definition
I. Varieties of Definition
II. Religion in General
III. Criticism
IV. Essentialism Again
3. Reason
I. The Theorizing Mind
II. Regulative and Constitutive
III. Reconstruction
IV. A Ptolemaic capstone
4. Experience
I. Kant's Non-conceptualism
II. On Religion
III. Proudfoot's Criticisms
IV. The Christian Faith
V. Conclusion
5. Self
I. James
II. Kant on self-awareness
III. Brandom on the social construction of apperception
IV. Varieties of conformity today: social
6. Meaning
I. Explanations of meaning in terms of use
II. A deflationary account of "God"
III. From philosophy of religion to religious studies
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
