Kant and the Divine

In his own approach to Kant's view of freedom, Insole explores a diametrically opposed reading that revels in a headier conception of metaphysics. Insole's project is strengthened by its careful and sometimes dogged attention to Kant's text. * Jessica Tizzard, University of Tübingen, Journal of the American Academy of Religion *
Christopher Insole's Kant and the Divine is a splendid work that presents Kant's moral philosophy with clarity and judiciousness ... Insole permits us to read Kant's philosophical religiosity in the way that theologians might read Plato, Aristotle, Avicenna, or even Iris Murdoch. We are freed from asking how it does or does not fit with Christianity and nonetheless are able to see it as a deeply religious ethic, inspiring and beautiful. * D. Stephen Long, Modern Theology *
Insole has written a remarkable and remarkably ambitious book. It is clear, comprehensive, and rigorously argued ... This book will be essential reading for undergraduates, graduate students, and scholars who are interested in the intersection of Kant's moral philosophy and his philosophy of religion, and it promises to exercise a considerable influence on Kant scholarship for the foreseeable future. * Samuel Stoner, Review of Metaphysics *
This is an exemplary account of Kant's writings about God, freedom and religion, which covers all Kant's many published works ... The book moves through illuminating discussions of such things as the nature of divine ideas, moral freedom, what is meant by the 'supreme good', the nature of morality, God, grace and religion. It is an intellectual feast, and if for some it may make Kant seem odder and more remote from present concerns, it will also inspire original thinking about how far Christian faith could or might need to be reconfigured or replaced by a religion of reason without revelation. * Keith Ward, Theology *
Magisterial is no doubt an overused word, but it is definitely the most fitting description of Kant and the Divine. In fact, each chapter of this book is magisterial. * Clare Carlisle, Studies in Christian Ethics *
[An] immensely rich and well-researched book ... [that] challenges our understanding of both Kant's ethics and his religious philosophy. * Kienhow Goh, Kantian Review *
Christopher Insole's Kant and the Divine is a magisterial study of Kant's inseparable philosophy of religion and moral philosophy. Against recent fashion, Insole argues that Kant is a deeply religious thinker, but by no means a conventional Christian. For Kant, what is divine is above all autonomous human freedom, the capacity of human beings to set their own ends within the framework of reason, although it is also rational for humans to believe that God makes it possible for them to do this harmoniously and thus achieve the highest good on their own. This book is a landmark. * Paul Guyer, Brown University *
This is a major contribution to the study of Kant and indeed to the philosophy of religion more broadly. It is the definitive study, and one with which its successors must contend. There is nothing like this in print, either in breadth or in detail. It will require subsequent scholars of Kant, and in the philosophy of religion more widely, to raise their game. * Nicholas Adams, University of Birmingham *
This is a comprehensive and compelling account of Kant's philosophical theology. Insole offers an interpretation of the trajectory of Kant's thought, from Kant's early discussions regarding the harmony and perfection of the created order, to Kant's critical emphasis on autonomy and its implications for his understanding of God. He is master of a broad swath of Kant's texts, from the pre-critical to the critical period and is also in command of the secondary literature... [H]is thesis is a bold and imaginative one for which he makes a good case, and his work will certainly generate many scholarly responses. * Jacqueline Mariña, Purdue University *
I recommend this book as a tour de force analysis of Kant's moral enterprise and the nature of freedom. It also makes a strong argument for the essentially theistic nature of the human ethical and communal quest for the highest good. It has real, albeit limited, value for the ongoing debate over Kant's classic Religion text. * Chris L. Firestone, Journal of the History of Philosophy 61.1 *