Kant – filosofiens Luther?

Abstract

This paper discusses Kant’s philosophy as a possible heir to Lutheran thought. Comparing Kant’s philosophy to that of Descartes reveals some interesting common presuppositions and convictions between Luther and Kant . Their shared conviction about the illegitimacy of reasoning about the ultimate nature of God and the world is especially stressed, which in Kant leads to the idea of the finitude of reason, an idea that runs through both his theoretical and his practical philosophy. It remains an open question, however, whether Kant, though he repeatedly stresses the finitude of reason, escapes the tendency, so
characteristic of the enlightenment, to absolutize human subjectivity.