Kant on Proofs for the Existence of God

This volume provides a highly needed, comprehensive analysis of Kant’s views on proofs for God’s existence and explains the radical turns of Kant’s accounts. In the ＂Theory of Heavens＂ (1755), Kant intended to harmonize the Newtonian laws of motion with a physicotheological argument for the existence of God. But only a few years later, in the ＂Ground of Proof＂ essay (1763), Kant defended an ontological (’possibility’ or ’modal’) argument on the basis of its logical exactitude. Nevertheless he continued to praise the physicotheological argument. In the first ＂Critique＂ (1781/7), Kant replaced the traditional constitutive proofs with regulative theoretical and practical arguments. He continued to defend a moral argument in the second ＂Critique＂ (1788). But in the third ＂Critique＂ (1790), Kant reintroduced a physicotheological besides an ethicotheological argument in order to unify the critical system of philosophy. Kant developed further moral arguments in the ＂Theodicy＂ essay (1791) and the ＂Religion＂ (1793/4), and still continued to discuss proofs for God’s existence in the ＂OP＂ (1796-1804). This volume speaks to Kant specialists in the fields of philosophy and theology, but can be used also as an introduction for non-academic readers.

Ina Goy, Beijing Normal University, China.