Sárospataki Füzetek 16. (2012)
2012 / 2. szám - TANULMÁNYOK - Frank Sawyer: Immanuel Kant and Theology
Frank Sawyer was characterized by faith in reason which led to considerable optimism about progress. The tendency was toward emanápative thinking and practices. The Enlightenment meant the breakdown of the dogmatic authority of the church; in this way the Enlightenment was also horipontalist. Philosophical thought then tried to decide between two directions: rationalism and empiricism. Philosophy was also being challenged by pietism. Rationalism deals with great abstract ideas; empiricism with sensory (tangible) experience; and pietism with the experience of Christian living. The strength of pietism is its concern to experience the reality of Christian faith; pietism’s weakness is its tendency to save one’s own soul and escape the world. Of course, there had been centuries of Christian thought which had taken philosophy very seriously, trying to work out a synthesis between philosophy and theology. We should not think that the possibilities have all been tried when we are confronted by such choices as rationalism, empiricism, pietism, and so forth. Kant’s strength was that he took these challenges seriously, and indeed tried to go beyond these categories. But, as we shall see, his focus on categorization led to a compartmentalization, for example of faith and reason, which did not solve the foundational questions he very bravely raised.Immanuel Kant grew up under pietist influences from which he took a distance. He did praise the warm influence of his pious mother, but he also said he experienced the Bible teaching, prayers, catechism study and other expressions of religion at the school he attended as quite wearisome. Throughout his life he never felt much positive appreciation for Christian worship or other expressions of personal faith. But Kant knew the main teachings of Christianity and thought about how to relate faith and reason. We shall later look at his view on God’s law, ethics, and grace. He was influenced by Protestant values in his strong sense of duty, truthfulness, and hard-working attitude toward life, as well as his frugalness. He studied theology as well as philosophy. The question behind much of his major philosophical writings is the possibility of knowing about God - and the limits of human reasoning in regard to the transcendent realm. It is noticeable that while Kant kept developing and maturing as a philosopher, he did not keep developing his understanding of theology to the same degree. Kant could speak of metaphysics as a dark ocean without shore and without lighthouses. While Kant did not pay much attention to worship services and prayer, he always ended up talking about God when he thought about the need for morality. At the same time, a major theme for Kant was mankind’s enlightenment. He says: ‘Enlightenment is the departure of mankind from its self-incurred blame of immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s reason without the direction of another... Sopere aude!Take courage to use your own understanding!’2 That was Kant’s view of the Enlightenment. He added that no church should try to use dogma to restrict human enlightenment. After Descartes, the two major schools of philosophy (rationalism and empiricism), concerned themselves with the problem of knowledge. Kant tried to unite these and then go beyond both rationalism and empiricism. Beginning with Kant the view of the philosophical task underwent a great change. No longer could 2 Kant's Werke (Groszherzog Wilhelm Ernst Ausg.),Bnd.I, p.l 63: ,y\ufklärungist der Ausgang des Menschen aus seiner selbstverschuldeten Unmündigkeit. Unmündigkeit ist das Unvermögen, sich seinen Verstandes ohne Leitung eines Anderen zu bedienen... Sapere aude! Habe Mut, dich deines eigenen Verstandes zu bedienen! ist also des Wahlspruch der Aufklärung.” 76 SÁROSPATAKI FÜZETEK 2012/2
