How compatible is Kants theory with christianity Flashcards
reason for …
-several aspect s
-commentators on kant cover almost whole range of possibilities concerning kants view god, including idea that he was an atheist
-its very difficult, however to show Kant was anything of the sort if one looks at whole range of his discussion of religion
-clear compatibility with religion in several aspects
Kants concept of good will is at least compatible with christians ideas about virtues
-for kant good will only thing that’s good without reservation/ qualification
-this is compatible with christian idea that virtuous man is the one who freely practices the good because that is part of his religious intentions
-for christians and kantians , importance of intention and will in assessing morality is crucial
kants emphasis on use of reason to define moral truths is similar to aquinas’ use of reason to understand the NML
-for kant pure practical reason chooses actions because they are good in themselves.
-for aquinas reason is a god-given faculty that underpins morality
moreover the ‘end; of moral decision making is similar for both Kant and Aquinas
-for kant the end of moral activity is to achieve the perfect union of virtue and happiness in summum bonus
-for aquinas the end is union with god in next life
for kant his ‘postulates of practical reason’ include two religious ideas
-at end of his groundwork, kants moral theory assumes beliefs about human nature and the world that are rooted completely in religion rather than in unaided reason
-god and immortality are both required in order to make sense of human moral nature
kants principle of universalisability is clearly compatible with religious ideas concerning our behaviours to others
-for example in Luke 6:31 Jesus says ‘do unto others as you would have them do to you’
-this is essence of Categorical Imperative/ principle of universalisability as is Jesus’ statement that second great principle of religion is to love ones neighbour as oneself
-these two christian principles are universal in same sense as Kant imperative
reasons agains
kants catergorical imperatieve can be seen as being more consistent with secular rather than religious ideas
kants system is based on enlightenment values of reason and autonomy
-in particular his view of categorical imperative, universalisability, and value of individuals as ends in themselves, together with ideal society as being ‘kingdom of ends’ all suggest the inherent value of individuals, and rule of human reason without reference to religion
-he is generally regarded as leading figure of European enlightenment where human reason and autonomy are seen to triumph over earlier ages of superstition and unquestioning acceptance of authority
the moral law must be autonomous and not religious, for agent to have a good will
-kant insists that only thing that’s good in itself is the good will and the good will is self-evidently a matter of volition
-kant therefore excludes all consideration of divine command in his ethics, because by definition following a DCT involves accepting moral will of another authority
equally kant makes no appeal to any text or scripture as an ethical authority
all such authority is invested in moral agent who has to assent to categorical imperative through practical reason, and not by submitting to dictates of any god given text
kants principle of universalisability can be used in secular ethics, for example Harm used a version of it in his meta ethical theory of prescriptivism so unverisalisabilty needs no religious reference
-foregoing point suggest Kants categorical imperative can function just as well without any religious context
-if moral law and the good will are autonomous, and if moral autonomy is invested in moral agent rather than in any text or scripture, then religious part of kants theory can be abandoned without weakening his ethical approach
-in fact his ides about god and summon bonum can be seen as being incompatible with his ethical approach, since they weaknesses his argument about moral law and moral will
kants categorical imperative is an unconditional command. the unconditional nature of command is incompatible with some versions of christian ethics
-fletchers situation ethics holds that, depending on situation, any moral command or rule can be ignored in order to maximise love
-within catholic ethics , aquinas held that there are situations where secondary precepts aren’t absolute. for example its permissible to steal in order to save a starving man from death
