Kant's Philosophy

Reason, according to Kant, needs to ascribe to God three moral attributes: He is the holy lawgiver, the benevolent governor and the just judge. Benevolence and mercy however seem to be in contradiction with the other two attributes - with the relentless strictness of the lawgiver who demands nothing less than holiness, and the complete justice of the judge which doesn't leave even the smallest transgression unpunished. According to Kant however God's grace consists of not only not punishing the good person but rewarding him, of not making it impossible for us to stand in front of his judgment, and most of all of assisting us as long as we just honestly strive for being good.Quote: 0:08Moral theology: 1:04The conflict between the attributes of God: 8:00God rewards the good person out of grace, not out of justice: 10:21God gives us everything which we need in order to stand in front of his judgment: 16:54Theodicy: 38:38The divine assistance to our imperfect morality: 48:29The dialectic of reason in regards to God's assistance: 1:06:42The theoretical belief in the antithesis harms religion: 1:19:06Practically we ought to live according to the thesis: 1:30:21God's grace is not bestowed, but always is already there when we open ourselves for it: 1:49:26Thanks: 2:08:54The antimoies in regards to God’s assistance Kant discusses in his Religion Within the Bounds of Mere Reason: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/kant1793.pdf. Aside from that many remarks on God’s benevolence and grace and the divine assistance can be found in the passages of his lectures on moral philosophy: https://www.archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes271imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes272imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0027kant_s1s1/mode/2updealing with religion (I am not aware of any English translation).Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via:https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77UThumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

According to Kant there are three kinds of theology, each leading to different concepts of God and ascribing different predicates to God: While transcendental theology ascribes to God only ontological attributes in the highest perfection and describes him als omnipresent, omnisufficient etc., physicotheology ascribes to him psychological attributes like a will or omniscience, moral theology however conceives of him as having three moral attributes: Being the holy law-giver, the benevolent preserver and the just judge, three characteristics which, according to Kant, exist in all kinds of faith at least unconsciously.Quote: 0:08Moral theology: 1:23God's moral main attributes: 11:231. The holy law-giver and creator: 17:222. The benevolent preserver and world-governor: 30:113. The just judge and destroyer: 33:11God's non-moral secondary attributes: 35:51The true religion: 41:08Why God has specifically three attributes: 45:05Why the separation of the three moral attributes of God is important: 1:07:56Kant's moral theology and the christian doctrine of the trinity: 1:31:20The trinity in other kinds of faith: 1:47:17Thanks: 2:14:35Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.pngOf the divine trinity Kant speaks in various places concerning God and religion in his lectures on moral philosophy: https://www.archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes271imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes272imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0027kant_s1s1/mode/2up and in his lectures on metaphysics, wherever these are concerned with rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up as well as in his lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up (I am not aware of any English translations).Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via:https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77UThumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

After having refuted every theoretical theology which tries to have cognition of God in himself and to prove him, Kant creates a moral theology: If there is no God and no life after death, then he who acts morally and follows the commendment of his reason, is foolish. This he ought not to be, therefore it is rational to, even without proof, for morality's sake believe in God.Quote: 0:08Pratical theology: 0:25The moral argument for the belief in God: 8:32The moral belief in God is a practical belief: 17:06The moral belief as a necessary postulate of practical reason: 31:20Believing as opposed to knowing or opining: 38:00Possible objections and misunderstandings and their rejection: 57:53Moral theology is the result of the whole critique of reason: 1:11:58Believe as free holding-to-be-true: 1:17:34Whether a moral person must be religious: 1:42:29The relationship between belief and morality: 2:11:21The weakness of Kant's moral theology: 2:12:50Moral theology and physicotheology and the idea of the world order: 2:33:51The relationship of God and moral law: 2:52:54Thanks: 3:11:22Short and concise explanations of the moral proof for God Kant gives in the canon of pure reason in his Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm, in the second main part of the dialectic of pure practical reason in the Critique of Practical Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5683/5683-h/5683-h.htm, in the §s 86-91 of the Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm and in his short essay: What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ6XQ74_UbgWhoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via:https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77UThumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

Besides theoretical theology, which tries to cognize and prove God, there can also be a practical theology which only tries to cognize what God is for us and how we should behave towards him and which does not strive for knowledge of God but for rational belief. This practical theology however can only be moral theology, it can neither be pragmatic theology nor theological morality.Quote: 0:08Practical theology: 0:28Pragmatic theology: 9:43Theological morality: 32:18Thanks: 51:12Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.pngThe imperatives according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/imperatives-according-to-Kant.jpgAgainst theological morality Kant argues repeatedly in his lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up and also in his Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm and his Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm.Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via:https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77UThumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

Nature around us seems too purposive and harmonic to be a product of chance. Physicotheology starts from the order of nature and from that deduces its divine originator and his attributes. This is the most natural, most easy to understand and original form of theology according to Kant. But one that, taken by itself, is insufficient to build religion on it but rather leads to paganism.Quote: 0:08The architectonic structure of theology: 2:03 Physicotheology: 7:43The architectonic deduction of the different fields of theology: 14:28The physicotheological argument for God: 22:13Physicotheology in Islam: 37:45The value of the physicotheological proof for God: 1:11:44The God of physicotheology: 1:24:14The refutation of the physicotheological proof for God: 1:55:08Physicotheology leads to polytheism and hylemorphism: 2:11:24The physicotheological proof for God secretly rests on the cosmological and ontological proof for God: 2:28:50That there can't be knowledge of God's existence has adventages: 2:37:32Physicotheology alone leads to paganism instead of religion: 2:43:08Thanks: 2:51:07Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.pngThe table of categories according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/table-of-categories-according-to-Kant.jpgRabia of Basra: https://youtu.be/cVSZaxcg6RY?si=YolngW29JMqsOflfRemarks on physicotheology can be found in Kant's lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up, and also in his lectures on metaphysics: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up (I am not aware of a free English translation of either). Besides that there is Kant's pre-critical The Only Possible Argument In Support Of A Demonstration Of The Existence Of God: https://archive.org/details/the-only-possible-argument-in-support-of-a-demonstration-of-the-existence-of-god/mode/2up wherein he explains the physicotheological proof for God very well and elegantly. § 85. of the Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm also contains important explanations on physicotheology. Finally, the refutation of the physicotheological proof for God is found in the third main part of the dialectic of pure reason in the Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm.Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via:https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewerhttps://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77UThumbnail: www.hotpot.ai