From Morality to Ethics. A New Perspective on the Debate Surrounding Jürgen Habermas’ Critique of the Kantian Philosophy of Religion

Abstract

Jürgen Habermas’ critique of Kant’s philosophy of religion has been controversially discussed, especially from a theological perspective. Above all, Habermas’ critique poses a great challenge for approaches to practical metaphysics after Kant. By re-examining the debate around Habermas’ critique of Kant, this article attempts to develop a moderate defense of such projects, which at the same time remains committed to the methodological approach of discourse theory. The aim is to show that Habermasʼ direct criticism of Kant’s doctrine of postulates can be refuted, but that his fundamental skepticism about locating practical faith within the moral sphere is justified from a discourse-theoretical perspective. This is so, because considering a discourse-theoretical moral theory, it can no longer be located within morality, but only within the sphere of ethics. This relocation of Kant’s doctrine of postulates within the sphere of ethics comes along with a relativisation of its rather strong rational justification claim, a fact that has important consequences for the theological project of a practical metaphysics after Kant.