Overview

In Kant and Theodicy: A Search for an Answer to the Problem of Evil, George Huxford proves that Kant's engagement with theodicy was career-long and not confined to his short treatise of 1791, On the Failure of All Attempted Philosophical Theodicies, which dealt explicitly with the subject. Huxford treats Kant's developing thought on theodicy in three periods, each with its own special character: pre-Critical (exploration), early-Critical (transition), and late-Critical (conclusion). Illustrating the advantage of approaching Kant through this innovative route, Huxford argues that Kant's stance developed through his career, from an essentially Leibnizian starting point to his own unique authentic theodicy; Kant rejected so-called philosophical theodicies based on theoretical/speculative reason but advanced authentic theodicy grounded in practical reason, finding a middle ground between philosophical theodicy and fideism, both of which he rejected; Kant's work in natural science and his Critical epistemology served to constrain his theodicy; and Metaphysical Evil conceived as limitation and Kant's Radical Evil perform the same function, namely providing the ground for the possibility of moral evil in the world. nevertheless, Huxford concludes that Kant's authentic theodicy fails because it fails to meet his own definition of a theodicy.

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9781498597234

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Reviews

From its examination of Kant's pre-Critical views to the 1791 distinction between doctrinal and authentic theodicy, Kant and Theodicy does an excellent job documenting salient passages, exploring the secondary literature, and evaluating how Kant's views on theodicy interact with the major elements of his theoretical and practical philosophy. This is a must-read for specialists in Kant's philosophy of religion, and will be interest to philosophers and theologians alike working on the problem of evil. --Lawrence Pasternack, Oklahoma State University This is a welcome book-length effort to depict Kant's decades-long struggle with questions about evil and theodicy. Huxford offers a sympathetic portrayal of Kant's evolving views about evil, and convincingly argues that they are much more central to his philosophical project than often recognized. --Andrew Chignell, Laurence S. Rockefeller Professor in Religion, Philosophy, University Center for Human Values at Princeton University Thanks to George Huxford's masterful overview of the (much-neglected) attention Kant devoted, throughout his corpus, to philosophical problems relating to theodicy, responsible Kant scholars can no longer portray Kant as having a merely passing interest in the problem of evil. Instead, by showing how Kant's 1791 essay culminates his lifelong grappling with God and evil, Huxford's analysis makes it seem only natural that Kant turned to theodicy as soon as he completed the third Critique. This comprehensive study is essential reading not only for those interested in the history of theodicy but for anyone who seeks to understand Kant holistically. --Stephen R. Palmquist, Hong Kong Baptist University

Author Information

George Huxford received his PhD from Kings College in London.

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