Abstract
This paper addresses the role of the notion of sacrifice in Kant’s theoretical philosophy, practical philosophy, and in his account of religion. First, I argue that kenotic sacrifice, or sacrifice as ‘withdrawal’, plays a hidden and yet important role in the development of Kant’s transcendental philosophy. Second, I focus on Kant’s practical philosophy, arguing that the notion of sacrifice that is both implied and explicitly analyzed by Kant is mainly suppressive sacrifice. However, Kant’s account is fundamentally ambiguous, as sometimes the kenotic meaning of sacrifice seems to resurface, especially in the context of Kant’s discussion of the happiness of others as an end in itself. Because religious notions are regarded by Kant as necessary transitional forms (Darstellungen) to be used to make moral ideas applicable to the world, I then scrutinize Kant’s view of sacrifice as an improper symbol, and I analyze Kant’s arguments for such a dismissal and discuss the subject matter in recent literature. Finally, I examine the role of sacrifice in Kant’s account of Christ as the prototype of pure moral disposition. I conclude by arguing that Kant indeed grasped the importance of including kenotic dynamics in practical philosophy but was somehow unable or unwilling to integrate it into the formal grounding of his ethics. This tension, however, effectively provides an entry point for features that can be found in the post-Kantians.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
I. Kant:.
KrV = Kritik der reinen Vernunft, trans. and ed. by P. Guyer and A. W. Wood, Critique of Pure Reason. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998 [A and B editions are cited in the usual way: A/B].
KpV = Kritik der praktischen Vernunft, trans. Mary J. Gregor, Critique of Practical Reason. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, 1996.
KU = Kritik der Urteilskraft Trans, trans. W. S. Pluhar, Critique of Judgment. Indianapolis: Hackett, 1987.
GMS = Grundlegung zur Metaphysik der Sitten, trans. by M. Gregor, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
MS = Metaphysik der Sitten, trans. by M. Gregor, The Metaphysics of Morals. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
RGV = Die Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der blossen Vernunft, trans. and ed. by A. W. Wood and G. Di Giovanni, Religion Within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, in Religion and Natural Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
SF = Der Streit der Fakultäten, trans. and ed. by A. W. Wood and G. Di Giovanni, The Conflict of the Faculties, in Religion and Natural Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.
JL = Jäsche Logik, trans. and ed. by P. Guyer and A. W. Wood, Lectures on Logic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Agacinski S. (1998) We are not sublime: Love and sacrifice, Abraham and ourselves. In: Jonathan R., Jane C. (Eds.), Kierkegaard: A critical reader. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 129–150
Atterton P. (2007) A duty to be charitable? A rigoristic reading of Kant. Kant Studien 98(2): 135–155
Axinn S. (2010) Sacrifice and value. A Kantian interpretation. Lexington Books, Lenham
Bohme, J. (1955–1961). Aurora. In W.-E. Peuckert (Ed.), Sämtliche Schriften. Stuttgart: Fr. Frommanns. The works of Jacob Behman (sic) (W. Law, Trans., 1764). London: Richardson.
Bowes R. L. (2001) Sacrifice and the categorical imperative of human security. International Journal 56(4): 649–664
Bubbio P. D. (2009) Solger’s notion of sacrifice as double negation. Heythrop Journal 50(2): 206–214
Bubbio P. D. (2012) Sacrifice in Hegel’s Phenomenology of spirit. British Journal of the History of Philosophy 20(4): 797–815
Cummiskey D. (1990) Kantian consequentialism. Ethics 100(3): 586–615
Dawe D. G. (1963) The form of a servant: A historical analysis of the kenotic motif. Westminster, Philadelphia
Firestone C. L., Jacobs N. (2008) In defense of Kant’s religion. Indiana University Press, Bloomington
Gardner S. (1999) Kant and the “Critique of pure reason”. Routledge, London
Griffiths A. P. (1991) Kant’s psychological hedonism. Philosophy 66(256): 207–216
Guevara D. (1999) The impossibility of supererogation in Kant’s moral theory. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 59(3): 593–624
Hegel, G. W. F. (1991). Elements of the philosophy of right. (W. Wood, Ed. and H. B. Nisbet, Trans.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hegel, G. W. F. (1997). Phenomenology of spirit (A. V. Miller, Trans.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hill T. E. (1989) Kantian constructivism in ethics. Ethics 99(4): 752–770
Houlgate S. (2005) Freedom, truth and history. Blackwell, Oxford
Keenan D. K. (2005) The question of sacrifice. Indiana University Press, Bloomington and Indianapolis
Kreeft P. (1990) Summa of the summa. Essential passages of Aquinas. Ignatius Press, San Francisco
Lanzetta B. J. (1992) Three categories of nothingness in Eckhart. The Journal of Religion 72(2): 248–268
MacKinnon D. M. (1975) Kant’s philosophy of religion. Philosophy 50(192): 131–144
McCarthy V. (1986) Quest for a philosophical Jesus. Mercer University Press, Macon, GA
Millbank J. (2003) Being reconciled. Ontology and pardon. Routledge, London and New York
Nietzsche, F. (1918). The antichrist. (H. L. Mencken, Trans.). New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Palmquist S. (2000) Kant’s critical religion. Ashgate, Aldershot
Peikoff L. (1971) Kant and self-sacrifice. Objectivist 10(9): 1092–1104
Pinkard T. (1996) Hegel’s Phenomenology: The sociality of reason. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Pinkard T. (2002) German philosophy 1760–1860: The legacy of idealism. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Pippin R. B. (1991) Idealism and agency in Kant and Hegel. The Journal of Philosophy 88(10): 532–541
Rand A. (1982) Philosophy: Who needs it. Penguins Book, London
Redding P. (2009) Continental idealism: Leibniz to Nietzsche. Routledge, London and New York
Solger, K. W. F. (1826/1973). Nachgelassene Schriften und Briefwechsel, Herausgegeben von Ludwig Tieck und Friedrich von Raumer. Heidelberg: Verlag Lambert Scheider.
Ward K. (1971) Kant’s teleological ethics. The Philosophical Quarterly 21(85): 337–351
Williams D. T. (2005) The kenosis of god: The self-limitation of god-father, son, and holy spirit. iUniverse, New York
Wood A. W. (1977) Kant’s rational theology. Cornell University Press, Ithaca and London
Wood A. W. (2006) Kant’s life and works. In: Graham B. A companion to Kant. Blackwell, Oxford
Zachhuber, J. (2008). Modern discourse on sacrifice and its theological background. http://users.ox.ac.uk/~trin1631/texts/sacrifice.pdf. Accessed September 12, 2012.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Bubbio, P.D. Kant’s sacrificial turns. Int J Philos Relig 73, 97–115 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-012-9380-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11153-012-9380-3