Ethical Rationality and Religious Commitment: A Critical Study of Kant

Abstract

Immanuel Kant’s (1724 -1804) examines the interaction between morality and religion. He particularly as developed in his critical works such as Critique of Pure Reason and Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone. Kant argues that morality inevitably leads to religion, since ethical life requires the postulation of certain rational ideas that transcend empirical experience. The discussion focuses on three central aspects: finite rational volition, the practical postulates of reason, and the concept of the highest good (summum bonum). Kant maintains that human moral action is governed by maxims and guided by the autonomy of the will, where duty and respect for the moral law determine the moral worth of actions. In this framework, the postulates of God, freedom, and immortality are not theoretical proofs but necessary practical assumptions that sustain moral striving. The highest good represents the ultimate unity of virtue and happiness and serves as the final end of moral life. Through this analysis, the paper argues that religion in Kantian philosophy is grounded in morality and reason, and that the ethical pursuit of the highest good culminates in the ideal of the “kingdom of ends.”