Reason and Experience in Mendelssohn and Kant provides the first
in-depth examination of the lifelong intellectual relationship between
two of the greatest figures of the European Enlightenment, Immanuel
Kant (1724-1804) and Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786). Both were engaged
in a common project of striking the right balance between rationalism
and empiricism. They sometimes borrowed from one another, often
disagreed with one another, and can usefully be compared even when
they did not directly interact. Guyer examines a series of comparisons
and contrasts: their arguments and conclusions on a range of
metaphysical issues, including proofs of the existence of God,
immortality, and idealism; their shared interests in aesthetics; and
their path-breaking work on the "religion of reason" and the
separation of church and state. Setting the work of both philosophers
in historical context, Guyer shows that, where Kant sometimes provides
deeper insight into the underlying structure of human thought,
Mendelssohn is often the deeper student of the variety of human
experience. This is evident above all in their treatments of
aesthetics and religion: Mendelssohn recognizes more deeply than Kant
the emotional impact of art, and while Kant imagines that organized
religion will one day be superseded by pure morality, Mendelssohn
argued that organized religion in all its varieties seems here to
stay, and so toleration for religious variety is an inescapable
requirement of human morality. Based on an exhaustive study of a wide
range of texts, this study demonstrates the on-going relevance of Kant
and Mendelssohn to modern thought.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9780192590671
Publisert
2020
Utgiver
Vendor
OUP Oxford
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter