What does his Religion contribute to Kant’s conception of practical reason?

Abstract

One of the arguments for which Immanuel Kant is best known is the moral proof of the existence of God, freedom, and the immortal soul. It is surprising that Kant gives hope, rather than belief, pride of place in the list of questions that motivate his entire critical philosophy. Commentators typically neglect the distinct nature and role of hope in Kant's system, and lump it together with the sort of belief that arises from the moral proof. A crucial difference between knowledge, rational belief, and rational hope is that they are governed by different modal constraints; the author discusses those constraints and the kind of modality involved. He offers what he takes to be Kant's account of the main objects of rational hope in that text, namely, alleged outer experiences (miracles); a supposed inner experience (effect of grace); and a future collective experience (the construction of a truly ethical society).