Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason

XVIII

into consideration. One is aware of Kant’s "heartfelt interest" original: "Herzensanteil." This reflects Kant’s deep personal and intellectual commitment to the educational reforms of the Enlightenment. in this institute of Enlightenment pedagogy, which is confirmed by a series of letters. In that particular letter, the subject is the six-year-old son of Kant’s friend Motherby Robert Motherby was an English merchant in Königsberg and one of Kant’s closest companions; he famously hosted the "Sunday dinners" Kant attended for decades., who was to be handed over to the Philanthropinum The Philanthropinum was a reformist school in Dessau that aimed to educate children according to nature and reason, moving away from traditional religious dogmatism. and was also to be raised in its spirit "with regard to religion." Until that point, the little boy had been intentionally kept in ignorance of what a devotional act original: "Andachtshandlung." This refers to formal religious rituals like communal prayer or liturgical services. might be. This is because devotional acts have "overall only the value of a means to enliven an active fear of God and conscientiousness in the following of one's duties as divine commands. For: that religion is nothing but a kind of seeking of favor and flattery original: "Gunstbewerbung und Einschmeichelung." with the Highest Being—regarding which people distinguish themselves only through the difference of their opinions on the method that might be most pleasing to Him—is a delusion. Whether this delusion is based on established statutes original: "Satzungen." Usually referring to church laws and dogmatic requirements. or is free from statutes, it makes all moral disposition uncertain and unstable. It does this by assuming that, besides a good lifestyle, there is something else that can serve as a means to, as it were, surreptitiously gain the favor of the Highest, thereby occasionally exempting oneself from the most precise care regarding the former while still having a secure escape route ready for an emergency."

2. It cannot be our task, in this sketch dedicated mainly to the personal religious development of our philosopher, to go into more detail regarding the partly quite extensive systematic discussions that Kant’s three great critical works, as well as the other treatises of the critical period, have granted to theological problems (the concept of God, immortality, and others). The terminological indexes of my editions of the Critique of Pure Reason (Hendel, 1899) and the Critique of Judgment (Philos. Bibl. 4th ed. 1913) will perhaps provide many with desired assistance. At this point, we limit ourselves to highlighting such expressions by Kant that are particularly characteristic of his religious nature