The Kingdom of Ends: Comprehensive Account of Kant’s Philosophy of History with Regard to Religion

Abstract

Kant’s method on moral philosophy follows his general way of philosophizing, i.e. transcendental method. That is to say, he discovers formal conditions of moral action through the transcendental analysis rather than focusing on non-rational motivations. However, it would seem to be the case that his concept of the human being as “the end-in- itself”, “the kingdom of ends”, should be understood within a Kantian big picture which is the practical aspect of human existence. Firstly, I elucidate Kant’s idea of the kingdom of ends which is the idea of the humanity as end in itself with respect to moral dimension; secondly, I clarify its political dimension and, to some extent, its legal implications; thirdly, I delineate its religious implications; finally, the kingdom of ends is considered within Kant’s philosophy of history where I evince its final sense. Therefore, Kant’s practical philosophy is taken to be accounted as a comprehensive whole based upon the kingdom of ends, although it is not a systematic whole similar to Hegelian system.