S a v i n g t h e S a c r e d f r o m T e c h n i q u e
A R e a d i n g o f K a n t ’ s
R e l i g i o n w i t h i n t h e B o u n d a r i e s o f M e r e R e a s o n
In Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason,
Kant ponders the possibility that supernatural assistance
could supplement our genuine striving for the good. Kant
notes that this ideal “totally escapes us” (it is beyond
our theoretical reason) and cautions that “it is salutary
to keep ourselves at a respectful distance from it, as from
a sacred thing.” If we are too intimate with this idea, we
might delude ourselves that we perform or receive miracles
and thereby corrode our capacity for reason, or fall into
passivity.
Still, while urging us not to count on
supernatural assistance, Kant refuses to forsake its
possibility. Without such grace virtue would be beyond us
and its mere idea may sustain us in our struggle.
Throughout
Religion
Kant tentatively acknowledges
what, as divine or holy, eludes our theoretical knowledge,
and then immediately counsels “respectful distance.” In
1
Immanuel Kant, Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason,
translated and edited by Allen Wood and George di Giovanni (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1998). Hereafter “Religion.” All cites to
Religion offer the volume and page number of the German Academy edition
followed by the page number of this Cambridge translation.
2
Religion, AK 6:191; p. 183.
3
Religion, AK 6:183; pp. 176-7.
Convention