Abstract for the Kant in Asia
International Conference
at Hong Kong Baptist
University
20-23 May 2009
Brandon
Love , “Kant's
Religious Perspective on the Human Person”
In
a book soon to be published— Kant and
Theology at the Boundaries of Reason— Chris Firestone makes a connection
between Steve Palmquist’s interpretation of Kant’s
transcendental philosophy and Paul Tillich’s theology. This essay examines this relationship
regarding human religious identity. Towards the end of his life, Tillich flirted with Eastern religions. Today, a growing movement in
Tillich-studies believes this period of his work lays the foundation for
religious pluralism. Palmquist, though he is a Kant scholar in Hong Kong, has
not addressed this issue. This
essay examines both Kantian thinkers concerning human religious identity. My contention is that, rather than
follow Tillich toward a full-blown pluralism, Kant, interpreted in a Palmquistian-style, offers a viable and, until now, untried
alternative—transcendental inclusivism. Kant terms it
“rational religious faith.” Though still disputed in the literature, it is what
defines, or should define, human self-identity at the transcendental boundaries
of reason.