Reason in religion: the foundations of Hegel's philosophy of religion

Abstract

Unique in both scope and critical perspective, Reason in Religion traces the evolution of a distinctive branch of Hegel's philosophy. Walter Jaeschke takes account of a sweeping oeuvre, from the early theological writings to the Berlin Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion, the latter reconstructed for the first time as Hegel actually presented them, permitting a detailed study of the development and changes in his approach. Hegel's religious thought is scrupulously placed in relation to his predecessors, contemporaries, disciples, and critics. The work begins with an account of Hegel's break with Kant's moral conception of religion, and concludes with the controversy over Hegel's philosophy of religion during the decade following his death. The author also makes a valuable contribution to present-day discussions of the task of philosophical theology in relation to philosophy of religion and the question of whether, and how, it is possible to have knowledge of God.