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Colloquium: Andree Hahmann

Friday, October 14, 2016 - 3:00pm

Cohen Hall, Room 402

Kant immortally happy

In the Critique of practical Reason Kant furnishes his notorious argument for the immortality of the soul. That the argument has found little attention among Kant scholars and, with few exceptions, has been judged very critically, cannot surprise. The argument is at first sight simply disastrous. However, one must notice that this is not the only argument for immortality that Kant has set forth in his published texts. In both earlier and later writings Kant had already addressed many of the problems that interpreters found with his postulate of the immortality of the soul. This talk addresses the main difficulties associated with the postulate and points to alternative considerations that Kant provided in different places. I will argue, however, that even though many problems can be avoided, this can only be achieved by revising essential features of Kant’s practical philosophy.

Paper Title

Kant Imortally Happy