The Secular Spirit: Using Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and G. W. F. Hegel (1770-1831) to Understand Politics and the Meaning of Life

FAIN: FEL-262421-19

Jeffrey Church
University Of Houston (Houston, TX 77204-3067)

Research and writing leading to publication of a book on the meaning of life in the work of German philosophers Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831).

This study examines Kant and Hegel’s views of the meaning of life. I argue that these philosophers offer a distinctive and compelling contribution to the effort to find a secular alternative to the consolations of religion—namely, the collective effort to liberate humanity from natural evils and social injustices. To achieve this end, Kant and Hegel design political institutions to foster meaningful lives, which challenges the common liberal practice of consigning this quest for life’s meaning to the private sphere. Finally, "The Secular Spirit" contends that despite their similarities, Kant and Hegel represent distinct paths for the liberation of humanity—the meaningful life is realized for Kant in the cosmopolitan order, but for Hegel in the local, civic community.

Associated Products

Kant, Liberalism, and the Meaning of Life (Book)
Title: Kant, Liberalism, and the Meaning of Life
Author: Jeffrey Church
Abstract: Church holds that Kant's liberalism rests on a view of the meaning of human existence, and so analyzes Kant's view of the meaning of life and its application to his politics. In particular, Church contends that a fundamental concern included in Kant's liberalism, largely unrecognized by scholars, is to foster the meaning of life for citizens of liberal republican orders. At the same time, Church applies Kant's views of the meaning of life to contemporary problems in liberalism. In particular, he argues that Kant's view of a meaningful liberalism can provide a counterweight to the recent rise of illiberal nationalist or religious forms of community that seem attractive to liberal citizens hungering for meaning in a disenchanted world. Compelling and ambitious, Jeffrey Church provides the first extended treatment of Kant's understanding of the meaning of life and a powerful alternative to procedural liberalism.
Year: 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-0197633182
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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