道德情感与心灵改善--兼论康德理性宗教的道德奠基

Moral Feeling and Improvement in Soul:the Moral Grounding for the Rational Religion of Kant

康德将他的理性批判事业推广到宗教领域,限制宗教于纯然理性界限之内。"道德上恶的人能否弃恶从善以及如何弃恶从善"成为批判的宗教哲学所要解决的主要问题。这个问题不是匍匐在信仰之下的理性依靠信念能够解决的问题,而是一个只能在纯然理性界限内联系道德信仰由实践理性来解决的问题。康德通过批判实践理性,证明了道德情感是一种尊重理性自律而产生的对道德法则敬重的情感,又以"动力—关切—准则"三个连贯的概念分析道德的纯粹性,并依据"责任"概念批判基督教伦理原则——"爱的诫命",最终基于人之有限性原则证成人只能在实践理性所限定的道德领域实现弃恶从善的心灵转变。康德所完成的批判考察,理性地解决了宗教与哲学、信仰与理性之间的对立统一关系,为纯然理性界限内的宗教奠定了必要的理性基础。

Kant expanded his critique of reason into the field of religion and thus put religion within the boundaries of pure reason. As a result, the question ＂whether and how a morally evil person can become virtuous＂ became a major concern of critical philosophy of religion. This question can not be solved by reason which yields to faith and thus depends on a certain belief. Instead, it is to be solved only by practical reason joined by moral faith within the boundaries of pure reason. By criticizing practical reason, Kant demonstrated that, moral feeling is the high esteem to all moral laws arising from human respect for the autonomy of reason. Then, he analyzed the purity of morality with the three coherent concepts of ＂incentive-interest-maxim＂ and criticized the imperative ＂to love＂ as Christian ethical principle in the light of the concept of duty, and finally justified that the conversion to virtue from vice in soul could be completed only within the moral domain defined by practical reason on the basis of the principle of human limitation. Kant＇ s critical examination reasonably solved the problem of the unity of opposites between religion and philosophy, between faith and reason in order to provide a rational Grounding for religion within the boundaries of pure reason.