Abstract

"The Subjective Aspect of Faith According to Immanuel Kant": The subjective faith, in Kant’s approach, is a way of recognizing truth. This method is justified by subjective reasons, with the simultaneous lack of objective ones. What is recognized in the way of faith as truths are the postulates of practical reason regarding the existence of God and the immortality of man. The subjectivity of faith is expressed in the fact that it is a disposition, state, principle of mind (habitus) in recognizing truth in what is to be assumed as a necessary condition of the highest good which is the object of the will. Since faith belongs to the moral order, it is sometimes called a moral faith. Its task is to determine the will on the basis of moral law. As a way of recognizing the postulates of practical reason as true, faith takes a form of judgments stating the existence of these postulates. For this reason, the subjective faith is an act of the intellect, because it is the intellect that is entitled to state truths. Kant calls the subjective faith a pure practical rational faith. This faith is the principle of the intellect whereby it states that one should accept the conditions of the highest good in view of the practical imperative to realize this good. The structure of the subjective faith, according to Kant, corresponds to its object. However, in order to recognize its object, the faith does not require any additional conditions in the form of, for example, grace, but it is entirely actualized by virtue of human natural abilities. Therefore, Kant’s rational faith is totally a natural faith.