Kant, Religion, and Politics pot

[...]... legitimize structures of power and authority in such a way that they are placed beyond the reach of open discussion and critique The relation between heteronomy in religion, culture, and politics is directly evident in Kant’s analyses of historical religions, where he addresses their potential either to inhibit or to foster ethical and political progress concerning the rights and freedoms of all These analyses... worldviews, beliefs, and priorities) It therefore has both political and ethical implications, and in this way occupies a strategic role in the historical interplay of heteronomy and autonomy Kant is especially concerned with how matters of doctrine and their accompanying symbol systems play a role in shaping the attitudes and modes of thinking of a populace or community Do they foster passivity and subservience... incomplete and open to variation and correction Cheah also writes of “culture qua incarnation of human ideals,” and this is an important way to understand the cultural and political influence of religion He argues that cultural activity “supplies the ontological paradigm of the political because it is purposive activity through which we transcend our finitude and become free.” This active understanding... 1 Introduction: on religion, ethics, and the political in Kant G e n e r a l t h e m e s of t h e i nqu i r y In Kant’s writings, the topic of religion occupies a strategic space at the confluence of epistemology, ethics, and politics Inquiries into the validity of religious truth claims and the possible meanings of religious writings and images form a vital part of Kant’s ethical and political project... Richard Velkley, Freedom and the End of Reason: On the Moral Foundation of Kant’s Critical Philosophy (University of Chicago Press, 1989), p.12 26 Religion, politics, enlightenment human and practical (i.e., ethical-political) program Kant’s emphasis on evenly distributed questioning and reflection, conjoined with a focus on communication and public accountability, attests to ethical and political concerns... expressions of free-floating and institutionally harnessed sets of ideas affect the way we perceive and relate to others, they impact upon the ethical sphere There is a dynamic or two-way interface between internal attitudes and external conditions, or between individual and collective ethical orientations To indicate how ethical principles are affected by cultural and political forces, and how political decisions,... metaphysical, theological, and religious systems disconnected from testable public and empirical realities, he also argues that many of the ideas and ideals Ibid., p.75 8 See Arthur Ripstein, Force and Freedom: Kant’s Legal and Political Philosophy (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009), pp.6ff 7 10 Introduction c ­ onveyed by these traditions, if ethically interpreted and applied, can have a... approach to ethics, and finally to a concern with an open inquiry into religion and 12 Introduction politics in a cosmopolitan framework As I will illustrate, there is a series of links between the critical philosophy’s concerns to determine the scope and limits of human knowledge, the critique of speculative thought-forms such as metaphysics and theology that transgress those limits, and an ethically... clarifying the interrelations among religion, ethics, and politics on a more encompassing theoretical level of analysis Is this conceptual approach to religion and the political too abstract? To be sure, Kant’s work on ethical, religious, and political issues generally operates on a meta-theoretical level that draws from empirical examples rather sparingly Because of this, and also because of the strategic... enthusiasm and superstition that cater to our fantasies and fears This disciplining conjoins autonomy with publicly verifiable criteria for knowledge, and these features directly carry over into ethical and political concerns In other words, the same criteria of openness, public accountability, and verifiability are employed with regard to political institutions, explicitly including religious ones, and the . – Kant, religion, and politics / James DiCenso. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index.  ---- (hardback) . Kant, Immanuel,. on religion, ethics, and the political in Kant   Religion, politics, enlightenment   Knowledge and experience   Illusions of metaphysics and