Does Tillich Have A Hidden Debt To Kant?

نوع مقاله : مقاله علمی پژوهشی

نویسنده

Professor of Philosophy, Dept. of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China

چکیده

Stephen R. Palmquist*
Received: 20/03/2019     |       Accepted: 15/04/2019
After briefly recounting a strange, quasi-mystical experience I had while first reading Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, I devote most of this article to exploring various similarities between theories Kant developed and ideas more commonly associated with Paul Tillich. Hints are drawn from Chris Firestone’s book, Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason, which argues that my interpretation of Kant echoes themes in Tillich’s ontology. Among the themes whose Kantian roots I explore are Tillich’s theories of: God as the Ground of Being; faith as ultimate concern; courage as the proper life-choice in the face of the anxiety that naturally arises out of an honest response to the human situation, given our fundamental alienation from the divine; the crucial role of cultural symbols in bringing faith into historically realistic expressions; political forms as ideally self-negating; and love as a gift that we must express with power and justice in order to be efficacious. After considering whether Kant influenced Tillich more than Tillich ever admitted, I conclude by wondering if my own effort to develop an “affirmative” interpretation of Kant’s theory of religion may have itself had a hidden influence from my prior reading of Tillich. 
Immanuel Kant, Paul Tillich, faith as ultimate concern, courage, symbols, selfnegating politics, love as gift.


* Professor of Philosophy, Dept. of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China     ׀        stevepq@hkbu.edu.hk

🞕 Palmquist. S. R. (2019). Does Tillich Have A Hidden Debt To Kant. The Journal of Philosophical-Theological Research, 21(81), 73۔ 88. doi: 10.22091/jptr.2019.4191.2093

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات


عنوان مقاله [English]

Does Tillich Have A Hidden Debt To Kant?

نویسنده [English]

  • Stephen R. Palmquist
Professor of Philosophy, Dept. of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China
چکیده [English]

Stephen R. Palmquist*
Received: 20/03/2019     |       Accepted: 15/04/2019
After briefly recounting a strange, quasi-mystical experience I had while first reading Immanuel Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, I devote most of this article to exploring various similarities between theories Kant developed and ideas more commonly associated with Paul Tillich. Hints are drawn from Chris Firestone’s book, Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason, which argues that my interpretation of Kant echoes themes in Tillich’s ontology. Among the themes whose Kantian roots I explore are Tillich’s theories of: God as the Ground of Being; faith as ultimate concern; courage as the proper life-choice in the face of the anxiety that naturally arises out of an honest response to the human situation, given our fundamental alienation from the divine; the crucial role of cultural symbols in bringing faith into historically realistic expressions; political forms as ideally self-negating; and love as a gift that we must express with power and justice in order to be efficacious. After considering whether Kant influenced Tillich more than Tillich ever admitted, I conclude by wondering if my own effort to develop an “affirmative” interpretation of Kant’s theory of religion may have itself had a hidden influence from my prior reading of Tillich.

 


* Professor of Philosophy, Dept. of Religion and Philosophy, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China     ׀        stevepq@hkbu.edu.hk

🞕 Palmquist. S. R. (2019). Does Tillich Have A Hidden Debt To Kant. The Journal of Philosophical-Theological Research, 21(81), 73۔ 88. doi: 10.22091/jptr.2019.4191.2093

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Immanuel Kant
  • Paul Tillich
  • faith as ultimate concern
  • courage
  • symbols
  • self-negating politics
  • love as gift
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-  Palmquist, S. R. (2017). Kant’s Model for Building the True Church: Transcending “Might Makes Right” and “Should Makes Good” through the Idea of a Non-Coercive Theocracy. Diametros, (54), 76-94. doi: 10.13153/diam.54.2017.1134.
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-  Vanden Auweele, D. (2019). Kant and Schelling on the Ground of Evil. International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 85(2), 235-253. doi: 10.1007/s11153-019-09701-6.
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