The only possible evidence for a demonstration of the existence of God

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The only possible evidence for a demonstration of the existence of God is a philosophical treatise by Immanuel Kant . It is considered the most important work of Kant's rationalist metaphysics of his so-called "pre-critical" period, i.e. the time before the appearance of the Critique of Pure Reason in 1781. Based on a long-term study of the subject, Kant wrote the basic evidence in 1762, she appeared around the turn of the year 1762/63.

The font consists of three sections. In the first, what Kant later called the “ontotheological” proof of God is presented: The existence of the world is necessary as the basis of all that is possible for thought. Then Kant develops necessary attributes for the ground of all possibilities, such as unity and simplicity. This real reason must have will and understanding; we call such a being "God". Here Kant essentially follows the line of argument that he had already used in his habilitation thesis Nova Dilucidatio . In the second part, Kant shows the “benefit” of this type of proof of God, which Kant sees in an improvement in the theology of physics . The third part contains a critique of other types of proofs of God, for example the ontological proof of God in Descartes ' version , which proceeds from the false assumption that “his” is a “real predicate”. The arguments used in the third part of the work will be taken up again by Kant in the Critique of Pure Reason .

Web links

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  • Immanuel Kant: The only possible evidence for a demonstration of the existence of God . With an introduction and notes edited by Lothar Kreimendahl and Michael Oberhausen. Meiner, Hamburg 2011 (with extensive bibliography).