Kant's Philosophy

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300 years ago Immanuel Kant was born - and I want to dedicate an extensive series of lectures to his whole philosophy. I spent the past year studying the 29 volumes of Kant's collected works and reading at least a 100 pages of Kant every day, in order to now provide the probably most comprehensive and most thorough presentation on his philosophy which has been attempted so far, to show its inner systematic relations and, most of all, to identify Kant's contribution to the aufklärung of humanity.

  1. 1d ago

    Kant's philosophy - Heaven and Hell: What comes after death?

    Heaven and hell aren't places for Kant, no parallel worlds where we are sent after death, but there is only one world in which we always remain, which however we will view differently from now after death. In this world he who constantly becomes better must become ever more blessed, he who constantly becomes worse must become ever more damned. Quote: 0:08 We don't need to know what comes after death: 0:44 Transcendental idealism explains the beyond: 5:13 The unification of the soul with God and the intellectual viewing of things in themselves: 23:36 Heaven is community with God and the saints: 46:03 Heaven is liberation from sensuality: 1:02:34 Heaven brings felicity, not happiness: 1:18:08 The contradictions in Kant's thinking on religion and the afterlife: 1:46:33 Heaven is eternal progression towards holiness and felicity: 1:57:59 The active and passive conception of heaven: 2:10:00 Heaven is increase of activity: 2:17:35 Are heaven and hell eternal?: 2:26:25 Thanks: 2:50:20 About the afterlife, heaven and hell Kant barely talks in his published texts. His views about this can mostly be found in his lectures on metaphysics: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up (I am not aware of any English translation). Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - Heaven and Hell: What comes after death?

  2. Oct 24

    Kant's philosophy - The immortality of the soul: Is there a life after death?

    Kant believed in the immortality of the soul. For this reason finds three different arguments, analogues to the three arguments for the existence of God: The argument from the assumed essence of the soul, which Kant refutes. The argument that the character of the soul seems to point towards a purpose beyond our earthly life, which Kant shows to be insufficient but still valued. And the moral argument, which alone remains. Quote: 0:08 The parallelism between rational psychology and rational theology: 2:18 The ontological proof for the immortality of the soul: 15:53 The physicopsychological proof for the soul living on: 32:51 - The purposiveness of nature: 35:11 - The soul seems to be meant for higher purposes: 45:28 - The value of the physicopsychological proof: 1:13:56 The moral proof for the soul living on: 1:26:23 The parallelism between the physicopsychological proof and the moral proof: 1:44:27 Thanks: 1:50:51 Overiew over metaphysics according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Metaphysics-according-to-Kant-scaled.jpg Especially the ontological argument for the immortality of the soul Kant discusses in his Critique of Pure Reason in the main piece on the paralogisms: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm#chap72. More extensively he deals with the arguments for the soul living on, especially with the physicopsychological one, in his lectures on metaphysics, where he deals with rational psychology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up (I am not aware of any English translation). Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - The immortality of the soul: Is there a life after death?

  3. Oct 17

    Kant's philosophy - Theodicy: Why does God let evil happen?

    The problem of theodicy is about the issue of the justification of God in face of the bad in the world. According to Kant's moral theology God is to be conceived in three roles: As holy creator, benevolent governer and just judge of the world. Therefore his holiness, benevolence and justice can be called into question and therefore there also is a need for a threefold justification. Quote: 0:08 The problem of theodicy: 1:01 Kant's contribution to the theodicy: 5:27 Why did a holy God create evil?: 20:48 One doesn't become an atheist because of the problem of theodicy, rather theodicy becomes a problem because of atheism: 50:08 There is more aufklärung and less ausklärung needed: 1:07:43 Why does a benevolent God allow ills?: 1:18:37 - The ills are a matter of perspective: 1:21:46 - Man is perpetrator, not victim: 1:55:25 - The sensual world is not the final purpose: 2:07:03 Why does a just God not punish evil?: 2:19:24 Thanks: 2:41:39 Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.png Theodicy Kant discusses most extensively and clearly in his lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up (I am not aware of any English translation). Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - Theodicy: Why does God let evil happen?

  4. Oct 10

    Kant's philosophy - Wherein lies God's mercy and grace?

    Reason, according to Kant, needs to ascribe to God three moral attributes: He is the holy lawgiver, the benevolent governor and the just judge. Benevolence and mercy however seem to be in contradiction with the other two attributes - with the relentless strictness of the lawgiver who demands nothing less than holiness, and the complete justice of the judge which doesn't leave even the smallest transgression unpunished. According to Kant however God's grace consists of not only not punishing the good person but rewarding him, of not making it impossible for us to stand in front of his judgment, and most of all of assisting us as long as we just honestly strive for being good. Quote: 0:08 Moral theology: 1:04 The conflict between the attributes of God: 8:00 God rewards the good person out of grace, not out of justice: 10:21 God gives us everything which we need in order to stand in front of his judgment: 16:54 Theodicy: 38:38 The divine assistance to our imperfect morality: 48:29 The dialectic of reason in regards to God's assistance: 1:06:42 The theoretical belief in the antithesis harms religion: 1:19:06 Practically we ought to live according to the thesis: 1:30:21 God's grace is not bestowed, but always is already there when we open ourselves for it: 1:49:26 Thanks: 2:08:54 The antimoies in regards to God’s assistance Kant discusses in his Religion Within the Bounds of Mere Reason: https://www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/kant1793.pdf. Aside from that many remarks on God’s benevolence and grace and the divine assistance can be found in the passages of his lectures on moral philosophy: https://www.archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes271imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes272imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0027kant_s1s1/mode/2updealing with religion (I am not aware of any English translation). Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - Wherein lies God's mercy and grace?

  5. Oct 3

    Kant's philosophy - The Trinity: Why the Godhead must be conceived as triune

    According to Kant there are three kinds of theology, each leading to different concepts of God and ascribing different predicates to God: While transcendental theology ascribes to God only ontological attributes in the highest perfection and describes him als omnipresent, omnisufficient etc., physicotheology ascribes to him psychological attributes like a will or omniscience, moral theology however conceives of him as having three moral attributes: Being the holy law-giver, the benevolent preserver and the just judge, three characteristics which, according to Kant, exist in all kinds of faith at least unconsciously. Quote: 0:08 Moral theology: 1:23 God's moral main attributes: 11:23 1. The holy law-giver and creator: 17:22 2. The benevolent preserver and world-governor: 30:11 3. The just judge and destroyer: 33:11 God's non-moral secondary attributes: 35:51 The true religion: 41:08 Why God has specifically three attributes: 45:05 Why the separation of the three moral attributes of God is important: 1:07:56 Kant's moral theology and the christian doctrine of the trinity: 1:31:20 The trinity in other kinds of faith: 1:47:17 Thanks: 2:14:35 Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.png Of the divine trinity Kant speaks in various places concerning God and religion in his lectures on moral philosophy: https://www.archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes271imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes272imma | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0027kant_s1s1/mode/2up and in his lectures on metaphysics, wherever these are concerned with rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up as well as in his lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up (I am not aware of any English translations). Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - The Trinity: Why the Godhead must be conceived as triune

  6. Sep 26

    Kant's philosophy - The moral proof for God: Why it is rational to believe

    After having refuted every theoretical theology which tries to have cognition of God in himself and to prove him, Kant creates a moral theology: If there is no God and no life after death, then he who acts morally and follows the commendment of his reason, is foolish. This he ought not to be, therefore it is rational to, even without proof, for morality's sake believe in God. Quote: 0:08 Pratical theology: 0:25 The moral argument for the belief in God: 8:32 The moral belief in God is a practical belief: 17:06 The moral belief as a necessary postulate of practical reason: 31:20 Believing as opposed to knowing or opining: 38:00 Possible objections and misunderstandings and their rejection: 57:53 Moral theology is the result of the whole critique of reason: 1:11:58 Believe as free holding-to-be-true: 1:17:34 Whether a moral person must be religious: 1:42:29 The relationship between belief and morality: 2:11:21 The weakness of Kant's moral theology: 2:12:50 Moral theology and physicotheology and the idea of the world order: 2:33:51 The relationship of God and moral law: 2:52:54 Thanks: 3:11:22 Short and concise explanations of the moral proof for God Kant gives in the canon of pure reason in his Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm, in the second main part of the dialectic of pure practical reason in the Critique of Practical Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/5683/5683-h/5683-h.htm, in the §s 86-91 of the Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm and in his short essay: What Does it Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ6XQ74_Ubg Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - The moral proof for God: Why it is rational to believe

  7. Sep 19

    Kant's philosophy - Practical theology

    Besides theoretical theology, which tries to cognize and prove God, there can also be a practical theology which only tries to cognize what God is for us and how we should behave towards him and which does not strive for knowledge of God but for rational belief. This practical theology however can only be moral theology, it can neither be pragmatic theology nor theological morality. Quote: 0:08 Practical theology: 0:28 Pragmatic theology: 9:43 Theological morality: 32:18 Thanks: 51:12 Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.png The imperatives according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/imperatives-according-to-Kant.jpg Against theological morality Kant argues repeatedly in his lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up and also in his Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm and his Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm. Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - Practical theology

  8. Sep 12

    Kant's philosophy - The God of nature and the physicotheological proof for God

    Nature around us seems too purposive and harmonic to be a product of chance. Physicotheology starts from the order of nature and from that deduces its divine originator and his attributes. This is the most natural, most easy to understand and original form of theology according to Kant. But one that, taken by itself, is insufficient to build religion on it but rather leads to paganism. Quote: 0:08 The architectonic structure of theology: 2:03 Physicotheology: 7:43 The architectonic deduction of the different fields of theology: 14:28 The physicotheological argument for God: 22:13 Physicotheology in Islam: 37:45 The value of the physicotheological proof for God: 1:11:44 The God of physicotheology: 1:24:14 The refutation of the physicotheological proof for God: 1:55:08 Physicotheology leads to polytheism and hylemorphism: 2:11:24 The physicotheological proof for God secretly rests on the cosmological and ontological proof for God: 2:28:50 That there can't be knowledge of God's existence has adventages: 2:37:32 Physicotheology alone leads to paganism instead of religion: 2:43:08 Thanks: 2:51:07 Overview over theology according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/theology-according-to-Kant.png The table of categories according to Kant: https://jonathanivoloewer.de/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/table-of-categories-according-to-Kant.jpg Rabia of Basra: https://youtu.be/cVSZaxcg6RY?si=YolngW29JMqsOflf Remarks on physicotheology can be found in Kant's lectures on rational theology: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0000kant_r0k1/mode/2up, and also in his lectures on metaphysics: https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant/mode/2up | https://archive.org/details/kantsgesammeltes0028kant_d7g2/mode/2up (I am not aware of a free English translation of either). Besides that there is Kant's pre-critical The Only Possible Argument In Support Of A Demonstration Of The Existence Of God: https://archive.org/details/the-only-possible-argument-in-support-of-a-demonstration-of-the-existence-of-god/mode/2up wherein he explains the physicotheological proof for God very well and elegantly. § 85. of the Critique of the Power of Judgment: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/48433/48433-h/48433-h.htm also contains important explanations on physicotheology. Finally, the refutation of the physicotheological proof for God is found in the third main part of the dialectic of pure reason in the Critique of Pure Reason: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/4280/4280-h/4280-h.htm. Whoever wants to support my aufkläring work can do so via: https://ko-fi.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.patreon.com/jonathanivoloewer https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VDDT7T7XHR77U Thumbnail: www.hotpot.ai

    Kant's philosophy - The God of nature and the physicotheological proof for God
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300 years ago Immanuel Kant was born - and I want to dedicate an extensive series of lectures to his whole philosophy. I spent the past year studying the 29 volumes of Kant's collected works and reading at least a 100 pages of Kant every day, in order to now provide the probably most comprehensive and most thorough presentation on his philosophy which has been attempted so far, to show its inner systematic relations and, most of all, to identify Kant's contribution to the aufklärung of humanity.

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