Kant and the Creation of Freedom

Zusatztext

Kant actively struggles with the problem of how to conceive of Gods creative action in relation to human freedom. He comes to the view that human freedom can only be protected if God withdraws in certain ways from the created world. The two pillars of Kants mature philosophy - transcendental idealism and freedom - are in part shaped and motivated by Kants need to provide a solution to his theological problem. The medieval and early modern theological traditionconceives of divine action as unlike the action of any created being. When the creature acts, God directly causes this action, but without reducing the creatures freedom. Kant explicitly discusses and rejects this account of divine and human concursus. This rejection has significant and surprisingramifications for Kants wider philosophy, explaining otherwise incomprehensible claims in his critical philosophy. Christopher J. Insole presents a definitive study in the history of ideas, engaging with a wide range of Kants texts from 1749 until the early 1800s. Many of these texts have received little or no attention in Kant studies to date. Insole places Kants thought in relation to numerous historical and traditional positions and illuminates these positions by a close engagement with recent debates in analytical philosophy and systematic theology. Kant is unrelentingly honest when grappling with thedifficulty of relating divine and human freedom. This study, of Kants theological struggle and legacy, goes to the heart of the problem in the modern reception of what the Christian tradition has affirmed about human freedom. As such, the book throws light on one of the defining fault-lines inmodern theology and philosophy.

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