Studia Philosophica

Volume 59, Issue 1, 2012

Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason
On the Presence of the Bad Principle beside the Good One: That Is, On Radical Evil in Human Nature

In this number of the Studia Philosophica journal, we present a translation of the first chapter of Kant´s work Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft (1793). It is a late work of Kant’s in which he summarizes and systematizes his philosophy of religion. This work resulted in Kant being banned from writing and lecturing on all issues related to religion. Today, the work is not considered outrageous or scandalous any more. It is rather seen as the first attempt to found religion on pure practical reason, not church regulations. One of the best pieces of evidence for this effort is the famous first chapter of the work, which focuses on what is called radical evil in man.