PHGA 6809 German Idealism and Religion
Professor Merold Westphal
Wednesdays, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

German idealism is, of course, no single thing but a story with many chapters. There are significant differences not only among the major thinkers but within each one as well. But they have a common interest in a project they share with much of philosophical “modernity” and which is perhaps best identified by Kant: religion within the limits of reason alone. As this phrase suggests, this project is of double interest. For the philosophy of religion it is a series of reflections on God, revelation, faith, religious community, the relation of religion to morality, and so forth. At the same time it is an important chapter in the “age of reason” more generally by virtue of its debates about the nature of reason itself. Unlike much contemporary discussion, which speaks of ‘reason’ and ‘rationality’ without bothering to say what is meant by these terms, the German idealists were concerned, not only to appeal to reason but to give an account of what reason might be and how it might contribute to “modernity’s” aspirations for autonomy. This tradition and this project are an important part of the long discussion of faith and reason in western culture.

REQUIRED TEXTS:

Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration, Prometheus
Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity, Stanford
Lessing, Lessing’s Theological Writings, Stanford
Kant, Religion and Rational Theology, Cambridge Edition of the Works . . .
Fichte, Introductions to the Wissenschaftslehre and Other Writings, Hackett
Hegel, Faith and Knowledge, SUNY
Hegel, Phenomenology of Spirit, Oxford

READING ASSIGNMENT FOR FIRST CLASS:

We’ll begin with some of the earlier discussion.

Locke, A Letter Concerning Toleration
Locke, The Reasonableness of Christianity
Lessing, Lessing’s Theological Writings, 51-56, 82-101