Stephen Palmquist Bücher

Authors from around the globe collaborate to foster dialogue between Asian and Western philosophy, creating a new comparative path in Kant studies. Central to this exploration is the concept of personhood, which serves as a foundation for discussing knowledge acquisition, education, ethics, self-identity, religious and political community building, and cross-cultural understanding. Edited by Stephen Palmquist, a prominent Kant scholar and advocate for philosophical dialogue, the book features selected and revised papers from the inaugural Kant Congress held in Hong Kong in May 2009. Contributors include Patricia Kitcher (USA), Günther Wohlfahrt (Germany), Cheng Chung-ying (USA), Sammy Xie Xia-ling (China), Lau Chong-fuk (Hong Kong), Anita Ho (Canada), Ellen Zhang (Hong Kong), Pong Wen-berng (Taiwan), Simon Xie Shengjian (Australia), Makoto Suzuki (Japan), Kiyoshi Himi (Japan), Park Chan-Goo (South Korea), Chong Chaeh-yun (South Korea), Mohammad Raayat Jahromi (Iran), Mohsen Abhari Javadi (Iran), Soraj Hongladarom (Thailand), Ruchira Majumdar (India), A. T. Nuyen (Singapore), Stephen Palmquist (Hong Kong), Christian Wenzel (Taiwan), and Mario Wenning (Macau).

Applying the new perspectival method of interpreting Kant he expounded in earlier works, Palmquist examine a broad range of Kant's philosophical writings to present a fresh view of his thought on theology, religion, and religious experience. He defends a number of innovative theses, including how: religious and theological themes form the backbone of Kant’s mature philosophical System, to the extent that his philosophy can be called “theocentric”; Kant’s treatment of organized religion provides the basis for a living and richly symbolic form of religious practice that is thoroughly compatible with the core teachings of Christianity; Kant’s Copernican Perspective on metaphysics arose in part out of and is directly parallel to his response to Swedenborg’s mystical “dreams”; and the claimsof mystics and others to have “experiences of God” are philosophically justifiable provided they are viewed solely from the “judicial” standpoint (i.e., the standpoint of the third Critique). Through its detailed examination of Kant’s writings and the volumous secondary literature, this book effects a fundamental paradigm shift in Kant-studies. No longer can Kant be portrayed as a cynical destroyer of religion in general and Christianity in particular; instead, he can now take his rightful place as a sympathetic reformer, rivalling even Luther in his influence on contemporary Christian thought and practice—both Protestant and Catholic.