ABSTRACT

This chapter places Wollstonecraft’s thought in conversation with the version of Immanuel Kant circulating in England during her lifetime, with special emphasis on how each thinker understands the relationship between religion, morality, and the formation of subjects within society. To that end, the first section begins by contextualising Kant’s reception in Germany and England within the Pantheism Debate and the influential letters of Karl Leonhard Reinhold, who argued that Kant’s philosophy provided a middle way between atheistic reason and blind faith. It then gives a broad overview of Kant’s main arguments about religion, including his critique of metaphysics and his efforts to find a rationally justifiable role for religion based on morality. The section ends by highlighting the confusion among scholars, both now and during Wollstonecraft’s time, about what social role Kant leaves for historical religion. The second section turns to Wollstonecraft’s approach to religion and morality throughout her work. It argues that, despite real differences from Kant regarding whether or not God can be a foundation for morality, Wollstonecraft’s vision of religion as the site of moral formation parallels remarks Kant makes in his more speculative works. The more substantive difference is methodological and concerns the ultimate aim of philosophy. While Kant focuses on delineating what can and cannot be known, Wollstonecraft’s interest in morality is pedagogical and persuasive, driving her to adopt tactically different forms of moral argument and stylistic innovation to meet her interlocutors on their own terms.