Book Reviews by Robert Gressis
This is a book review of Lawrence Pasternack's commentary on Immanuel Kant's _Religion within the... more This is a book review of Lawrence Pasternack's commentary on Immanuel Kant's _Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason_.
Papers by Robert Gressis
Archiv für Geschichte der Philosophie, Mar 7, 2018
In the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, Kant claims ... more In the Groundwork of the Metaphysics of Morals and the Critique of Practical Reason, Kant claims that rational beings should want to have no inclin ations. But in Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason, he asserts that the inclin ations are good in themselves. While many commentators hold that Kant simply wrote hyperbolically in the Groundwork and the second Critique, I argue Kant was sincere, and changed his mind about the worth of the inclinations between the second Critique and the Religion. This is because he changed his mind about the source of immorality: whereas in the Groundwork and Critique of Practical Reason Kant took our inclinations to be tempters, starting in "Miscarriage of All Phil osophical Trials in Theodicy" and concluding in the Religion, he posited a selfim posed propensity to evil as the source of immorality. Kant's reason for changing his mind about the source of immorality was partly theological: if our inclin ations were to blame for immorality, then God would also be to blame for creating us with them. The only way God could not be to blame is if our immorality were selfimposed. But Kant also concluded that looking for theoretical explanations of our immorality-whether theological or naturalistic-was itself problematic: such explanations ended up exonerating us for our immorality. Because they had this effect, I contend that Kant saw the offering of such exculpating theoret ical explanations as itself motivated by immorality. This understanding of Kant makes sense of the approaches he takes in both "Miscarriage" and Religion.
Philosophy Compass, Mar 1, 2010
Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement ab... more Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement about what maxims are. In this two-part essay, I survey eight different views of Kantian maxims, presenting their strengths, and their weaknesses. Part I: Established Approaches, begins with Rüdiger Bubner's view that Kant took maxims to be what ordinary people of today take them to be, namely pithily expressed precepts of morality or prudence. Next comes the position, most associated with Rüdiger Bittner and Otfried Höffe, that maxims are Lebensregeln, or 'life-rules'quite general rules for how to conduct oneself based on equally general outlooks on how the world is. These first two interpretations make sense of Kant's claim, made in his anthropological and pedagogical writings, that we have to learn how to act on maxims, but they become less plausible in light of Kant's probable view that people always act on maxims-after all, how can people learn how to act on something they always act on anyway? The next two views, each advanced, at different times, by Onora O'Neill, make better sense of the fact that people always act on maxims, for they hold that maxims are intentions-either specific intentions, such as 'to open the door', or general intentions, such as 'to make guests feel welcome'-and it is perfectly sensible to claim that people always act on intentions. However, they face the same problem as the two previous views, which is that if people always act on maxims, what sense does it make to say they also have to learn how to act on them? Henry Allison, the main representative of the fifth view, claims, on the basis of Kant's doctrine of the 'highest maxim', that maxims are principles organized hierarchically, such that an agent endorses one maxim because she endorses a more general maxim. Unfortunately for Allison, there is little direct textual support for his claim that maxims are organized hierarchically.
Ethics, Oct 1, 2012
For ethicists of all kinds, Davison offers some interesting reflections on the implications of th... more For ethicists of all kinds, Davison offers some interesting reflections on the implications of the view that every concrete particular is intrinsically good. As I noted above, I am not persuaded by Davison’s central argument for this conclusion; however, Davison’s thoughts on what it wouldmean to accept such a view are insightful. The final chapter of the book has much to offer philosophers who are particularly interested in the relationship between theism and ethics. And last, but not least, the book presents an occasion for all philosophers to reflect on the nature of philosophical argument, what it can and cannot accomplish, andwhat it means to make a sincere effort to live in accordance with one’s philosophical commitments.
Philosophy Compass, Mar 1, 2010
Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement ab... more Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement about what maxims are. In this two-part essay, I survey eight different views of Kantian maxims, presenting their strengths and their weaknesses. In Part II: New Approaches, I look at three more recent views in somewhat greater detail than I do the five treatments canvassed in 'Recent Works on Kantian Maxims I: Established Approaches'. First, there is Richard McCarty's Interpretation, which holds that Kant's understanding of maxims can be illuminated by placing them in the context of the Wollfian tradition, according to which maxims are the major premises of practical syllogisms. The next subject Maria Schwartz, holds that careful attention to Kant's distinction between rules and maxims, as well as Kant's concept of happiness, allows us to make sense of almost all of Kant's remarks on maxims. It may be, however, that on Schwartz's view agents turn out to perform actions as opposed to thoughtlessly habitual behaviors much less often than is plausible. This leads to the final approach, exemplified by Jens Timmermann, which is that Kant understands maxims equivocally. I claim that something like Timmermann's approach is the only way to make sense of all of what Kant has to say on maxims.
Ethics, 2012
For ethicists of all kinds, Davison offers some interesting reflections on the implications of th... more For ethicists of all kinds, Davison offers some interesting reflections on the implications of the view that every concrete particular is intrinsically good. As I noted above, I am not persuaded by Davison’s central argument for this conclusion; however, Davison’s thoughts on what it wouldmean to accept such a view are insightful. The final chapter of the book has much to offer philosophers who are particularly interested in the relationship between theism and ethics. And last, but not least, the book presents an occasion for all philosophers to reflect on the nature of philosophical argument, what it can and cannot accomplish, andwhat it means to make a sincere effort to live in accordance with one’s philosophical commitments.
British Journal for the History of Philosophy, 2017
Many think that the aim of Hume's Dialogues is simply to discredit the design argument for the ex... more Many think that the aim of Hume's Dialogues is simply to discredit the design argument for the existence of an intelligent designer. We think instead that the Dialogues provides a model of true religion. We argue that, for Hume, the truly religious person: (1) believes that an intelligent designer created and imposed order on the universe; (2) grounds this belief in an irregular argument rooted in a certain kind of experience, for example, in the experience of anatomizing complex natural systems such as the eye; and (3) retains this belief, on the basis of these reasons, even after careful scrutiny. We argue that two of the Dialogues's characters, Philo and Cleanthes, exhibit true religion. A third character, Demea, exhibits false religion and a persistent impiety. Taken as a whole, we see the Dialogues as an educational performance for the benefit of Pamphilus, Cleanthes's ward, as well as for the benefit of readers of the Dialogues. Specifically, we think, given that its lessons concern theology and the principles of religion, the dynamics of the Dialogues's discussion and the interplay between its characters can be seen as a demonstration of a method for becoming truly religious.
Akten des XI. Kant-Kongresses 2010, 2000
I have benefited from the help of many people during the writing of this dissertation. They break... more I have benefited from the help of many people during the writing of this dissertation. They break down into four categories: family, friends, professors, and fiancée.
International Encyclopedia of Ethics, 2013
Teaching Philosophy, 2012
Philosophy Compass, 2010
Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement ab... more Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement about what maxims are. In this two-part essay,
Philosophy Compass, 2010
Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement ab... more Maxims play a crucial role in Kant's ethical philosophy, but there is significant disagreement about what maxims are. In this two-part essay,
Journal of Moral Philosophy, 2012
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2009
International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2010
Abstract: Kant's theory of evil, presented most fully in his Religion within the Boundaries ... more Abstract: Kant's theory of evil, presented most fully in his Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason, has been consistently misinterpreted since he first presented it. As a result, readers have taken it to be a mess of inconsistencies and eccentricities and so have tried to mine ...
This study tests the hypothesis that the perception of philosophy as a male-oriented discipline c... more This study tests the hypothesis that the perception of philosophy as a male-oriented discipline contributes to the pronounced gender disparity within the field. To assess the hypothesis, we determined the extent to which individuals view philosophy as masculine, and whether individual differences in this correspond with greater identification with philosophy. We also tested whether identification with philosophy correlated to interest in it. We discovered, first, that the more women view philosophy as masculine, the less they identify with it, and second, that the less women identify with philosophy, the less they want to major in it. Interestingly, this result does not hold for men—their viewing philosophy as masculine does not correspond to their identification with it, nor does it correlate with their likelihood of majoring in it. We also discovered that the typical student does not have a preconceived notion of philosophy as masculine; this suggests that they come to view philosophy as masculine the more they do it, which in turn supports the possibility that teaching the discipline differently may prevent students from conceiving of philosophy as masculine, thus allowing a path to reducing the gender disparity.
It is commonly reasoned that religious belief moderates death anxiety and aids in coping with los... more It is commonly reasoned that religious belief moderates death anxiety and aids in coping with loss. However, a philosophical perspective known as meta-atheism includes the claim that avowed religious believers grieve deaths and experience death anxiety as intensely as avowed atheists. Thus, we report a study comparing religious believers and nonbelievers on measures of death anxiety and grief. We further investigated the relationships between certain religious beliefs (views of God, afterlife belief, religious orientation) and death anxiety, as well as both painful grief reactions and grief-related growth. We surveyed 101 participants across the United States, ranging in age (19 to 57), education, and ethnicity. Participants avowing some form of religious belief, in comparison to those not, did not demonstrate lower levels of death anxiety. They did, however, display higher levels of a certain type of death acceptance. Additionally, those professing belief reported less grief and greater growth in response to loss. Greater afterlife belief was not associated with less grief; however, it was associated with both greater grief-related growth and lower death anxiety.
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Book Reviews by Robert Gressis
Papers by Robert Gressis