ABSTRACT
Kant’s moral argument for God’s existence shows plainly enough that he wished to associate the idea of God with the foundations of morality. In so doing, he offers us a moral theology that serves to fill out the picture of God provided by natural theology. He links the notion of God with three roles a highest being might play in the foundations of morality: holy lawgiver, beneficent governor and just judge (Critique
Kant summarises the essence of his account of true faith in these terms: ‘the sum of all religion consists in righteousness and that we ought to seek it with all our power in the faith, that is, unconditional trust, that God will then supply the good that is not in our power [to bring about]’ (10:180). The references to God’s role in morality in these sources is linked to Kant’s oft-stated definition of religion in his Critical writings: ‘the recognition of all duties as divine commands’ (Critique
The problem for the interpreter of Kant’s philosophy of religion is how to understand the essential connection between God and the foundations of morality that Kant posits. In particular, the issue arises of whether Kant’s moral theology requires the positing of an actually existing deity who issues real commands, who provides real supplements to human efforts to achieve righteousness and who really speaks as the voice of conscience in human beings. This option is but vaguely outlined in these words. The alternative, again vague, is that Kant’s moral theology requires merely the idea of a holy lawgiver, beneficent governor and just judge: in other words, some subjective posit.
