Kant’s Highest Good by Lawrence Robin Pasternack

Kant’s Highest Good by Lawrence Robin Pasternack

Kant’s doctrine of the Highest Good is among the most perplexing and controversial aspects of his practical philosophy. There is widespread disagreement about exactly what the Highest Good is, how Kant argues for it, and what function it is supposed to fulfill. The Highest Good is also situated at the nexus of some of the most acrimonious disputes within Kant scholarship.

This book is the first comprehensive, English-language interpretation of the Highest Good’s internal structure, its development, and its place within Kant’s broader philosophical system. Pasternack offers sustained engagement with the contemporary secondary literature on these issues, and discusses key texts of the German Enlightenment which helped to shape Kant’s conception of the Highest Good. He argues that prevailing interpretations rely upon a faulty understanding of the Highest Good, one which has its roots in a number of early interpretive missteps. Pasternack proceeds to discuss how the Highest Good relates to other elements of Kant’s philosophical system, including the conflicting interpretations of his moral psychology, the epistemic strictures of Transcendental Idealism, and how to reconcile his positive philosophy of religion with these strictures.

Lawrence Robin Pasternack was Professor of Philosophy and Director of Religious Studies at Oklahoma State University, as well as a leading scholar of Kant’s philosophy of religion. His numerous publications have appeared in Kantian Review, Kant-Studien, the Journal of the History of Philosophy, and Faith and Philosophy, among many others. Through his extensive editorial work, especially on the series Kant’s Sources in Translation (with Pablo Muchnik), he enriched scholarship beyond measure. His first book with Routledge, Kant’s Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason: An Interpretation and Defense was published in 2014. A full list of Dr. Pasternack’s publications can be found at the end of this volume.

Courtney D. Fugate is Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University, Tallahassee, and a specialist in classical German philosophy, including Kant, and the history and philosophy of science.

Jennifer Elisabeth Fugate is a freelance editor and translator.