In Defense of Kant's Religion
The book that argues Kant's Religion is coherent, Christian in its essentials, and rationally defensible.
About the bookBooks
Six books on Immanuel Kant, the philosophy of religion, and friendship, from Indiana, Cambridge, Notre Dame, Ashgate/Routledge, and Lexham, plus a one-volume Kant companion in progress.
Featured
In Defense of Kant's Religion
with Nathan Jacobs · Indiana University Press, 2008 · Foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff
Kant's Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason has been read for two centuries as a muddle: a great philosopher trying to squeeze Christianity into a moral box and failing. Firestone and Jacobs take the charge of incoherence head-on. Reading the text alongside the whole critical system, they show that Kant incorporates the essentials of Christian faith (radical evil, the prototype of perfect humanity, grace, and the ethical community) into a rational religious faith that holds together. The book was seven years in the making, carries a foreword by Nicholas Wolterstorff, and became the reference point for the 'affirmative' school of Kant interpretation.
One of the best, if not the best, book that has yet been written in English on Kant's philosophy of religion. It is learned, clearly written, and immensely creative.
— Robert Gressis, California State University, Northridge, in the International Journal for Philosophy of Religion
Invaluable in courses on Kant's philosophy of religion.
— Merold Westphal, Fordham University
- Nominated for the American Philosophical Association Book of the Year (2008–09)
- Nominated for the American Academy of Religion Textual Studies Prize
- Subject of an AAR 'Authors Meet Critics' session (2009) and a symposium issue of Faith and Philosophy (29:2, 2012)
Authored
The two Kant books and a short one on friendship.
Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason
Can theology go through Kant? Three grounds on which it can, and what theology looks like when it does.
About the book
Why Does Friendship Matter?
A short book on the lost art of friendship, for anyone who has more contacts than friends.
About the bookEdited volumes
Three collections on Kant and on the persistence of the sacred in modern philosophy, edited with Nathan Jacobs, James Joiner, and Stephen Palmquist.
Kant and the Question of Theology
Twelve new essays on God, religion, and redemption in Kant, from both sides of the analytic/continental divide.
About the book
The Persistence of the Sacred in Modern Thought
Hobbes, Leibniz, Locke, Kant, Schelling, Hegel: the modern philosophers who never left God behind.
About the book
Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion
The anthology that named the 'affirmative' reading of Kant on religion.
About the bookIn progress
What is on the desk now.
Immanuel Kant: A Companion to His Philosophy and Its Theological Reception
A one-volume introduction to Kant for the thoughtful reader, and to what theologians have made of him. In draft.
About the bookPlanned contents
- Preface
- Introduction
- Kant's Philosophical Career — A Brief Overview of Kant's Philosophical Career and Its Influence
- Kant's Critical Writings — Kant's Critical Writings and Their Significance
- Kant the Philosopher — Kant's Calling as a Pure Philosopher and Its Implications
- What Can I Know? — The Power of Immediate Sense Perception and Thinking
- What Ought I to Do? — The Power of Discerning Good and Evil (and Acting on It)
- What May I Hope? — The Power of Appreciating Beauty and Purpose (and Creating It)
- What is Man? Religiousness A — What is Man? (Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View and Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason)
- What is Man? Religiousness B — Theology on What It Means to be Human
- The Implications of Kant's Philosophy for Christian Theology — The Future of Kant's Philosophy and Christian Theology
Where to start
If you are a general reader, start with Why Does Friendship Matter?: ninety pages, no footnote you have to read. If you are curious about Kant, In Defense of Kant's Religion is the main argument and the book everything else answers to. If you are a theologian asking whether theology can go through Kant, Kant and Theology at the Boundaries of Reason is written for you.
Academic writing
37 publications since 1999: journal articles, book chapters, reference entries, and reviews, most of them on Kant and the philosophy of religion.
12Journal articles
8Book chapters and entries
4Book reviews
2Guest-edited symposia