The logic of hope : : extensions of Kant's view of religion / / Sidney Axinn.

• Superior document: Value Inquiry Book Series ; 15
• VerfasserIn: Axinn, Sidney,
• Place / Publishing House: Amsterdam, Netherlands ;, Atlanta, Georgia : : Rodopi,, [1994]; ©1994
• Year of Publication: 1994
• Language: English
• Series: Value Inquiry Book Series ; 15.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (328 pages)

This book is a thorough study of the question posed by Kant, For what can a human being rationally hope? It offers a detailed commentary on Kant's seminal work, Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone, as well as an original development of the logic of three of Kant's basic ideas: ambivalence, ignorance, and hope. Sophisticated analytic techniques, including symbolic logic, are applied to this conceptual matrix. The result is a striking case for the transformation of world society into a Kingdom of Ends of individuals and a peaceful League of Nations.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- Part I: KANT'S ANALYSIS OF RELIGION -- ONE. Introduction -- 1. History and a Touch of Gossip -- 2. Outline of This Book -- 3. Summary of Kant's Book on Religion -- A. Human Nature -- B. Ethical Theory -- C. The Religion of Reason -- D. The Relation Between Historical Religions and Rational Religion -- E. Fetishism -- TWO. Kant's Conceptual Tools -- 1. The Nature and Limits of Knowledge -- A. The Pragmatic Foundation of Knowledge -- B. Possible Experience as a Necessity for Knowledge -- C. Space and Time -- D. Phenomena and Noumena -- E. The Antinomies -- F. Conclusions -- 2. Kant's Ethical Theory -- 3. Kant's Philosophy of History -- THREE. Religion Within the Limits of Reason Alone -- 1. Preface to the First Edition -- 2. Part One: Concerning the Indwelling of the Evil Principle with the Good -- Or, on the Radical Evil in Human Nature -- 3. Part Two: Concerning the Conflict of the Good with the Evil Principle for Sovereignty over Man -- 4. Part Three: The Victory of the Good over the Evil Principle, and the Founding of a Kingdom of God on Earth -- 5. Part Four: Concerning Service and Pseudo-Service Under the Sovereignty of the Good Principle -- Or, Concerning Religion and Clericalism -- PART II: APPLICATIONS OF REASON -- FOUR. Ambivalence: The Nature of the Individual -- 1. Happiness -- 2. And Yet: The Ambivalence of the Individual -- 3. Ambivalence vs. Fanaticism -- 4. The Requirements of Logic -- 5. The Formal Properties of a Cube of Opposition -- 5.1 Models of Ambivalence -- 5.2 Varieties of Ambivalence -- 5.3 Some Results of This Model -- 6. The Monist Tradition -- 7. Historical Relations -- 8. A Dualist Model of Human Nature -- 9. Ambivalence and Honesty -- FIVE. The Logic of Ignorance -- 1. Definitions, Assumptions -- 2. Axioms.

3. Assumptions Summarized -- 4. Theorems -- 5. Responsible Ignorance -- 6. Forgetting -- 7. A Few Examples -- 8. Concluding Comments -- SIX. The Logic of Hope: Definitions of Three Types of Hope -- 1. Introduction: Kinds of Hope -- 2. The Presupposition of Ignorance, Considered Pragmatically -- 3. Hope, Fear and the Square of Opposition -- 4. The Three Types of Hope, Considered Semantically -- 4.1 Requirements for a Definition of Hope -- 5. The Definition of Hope -- SEVEN. The Logic of Hope: Continued -- 1. Schema and Image -- 2. Kant on Possible Hopes -- 3. Second-Order Hope -- 4. Hope and the Solution of the Antinomies -- 4.1 The Epicurus Analogy -- 4.2 The Second-Order Hope Antinomy -- 5. Pragmatic Synthesis -- 6. Summary and Distinction Between Reasonable and Unreasonable Hopes -- 7. Unreasonable Hopes -- PART III: CONSEQUENCES OF KANT'S VIEWPOINT -- EIGHT. Kant's Use of Reasonable Hope -- 1. Hope for Retribution -- A. Happiness Proportional to Worthiness -- B. Ontological Proof of the Rational Proportion -- C. Limitations on Rational Hope -- D. Retributive Punishment and an Argument about God -- E. The Retribution Antinomy -- F. Active and Passive Moral Subjects -- G. Conclusion -- 2. Hope for Mysterious Assistance in Moral Effort -- NINE. Mystery Versus Undecidability -- 1. The Distinction Between Mystery and Unknowability -- A. Four General Types of Ignorance -- B. On Use and Mention -- C. Kant's Employment of These Distinctions -- 2. Other Religious Consequences: Ignorance, Abnorance, and Undecidability -- TEN. The Moral Antinomy -- 1. A Moral Antinomy -- A. Observations on the Thesis -- B. Observations on the Antithesis -- 2. Kant's Position on the Antinomy -- 3. Nine Questions about Morality and Kant's Answers -- 4. Conclusions -- ELEVEN. The Religious Question: The Philosophy of Religion as the Philosophy of History.

1. The Ethical Commonwealth -- 2. The Hope of World Citizenship -- 3. God as Presupposition -- 4. God-Centered vs. Good-Centered Religions -- 5. Religion as a Theory of Human History -- 6. Religious Progress -- 7. The Religious Question: What Can Be Said about Hope? -- 8. Afterthought: On Kant's Optimism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- About the Author -- Index -- VALUE INQUIRY BOOK SERIES.