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The Middle Path of Rational Faith: Jaspers and Kant
Sikora, Ondřej
Sikora, Ondřej
Abstract
The philosophy of both Immanuel Kant and Karl Jaspers culminates in the motif of faith (the pure practical rational faith and the philosophical faith), but this similarity has received relatively little attention. The paper examines it with specific focus on three questions: First, can it be said that Kant advocates a narrower, morally bound conception of rational faith, while Jaspers holds a broader, existential conception? If so, what is the root of this “narrower”–“wider” distinction? Second, can we take Jaspers as “Kantian existentialist” with regard to his motif of philosophical faith? Third, what do these concepts imply in relation to Christianity? To what extent can philosophical standpoint co-exist with Christian belief? As for the first question, the interpretation shows that rather than narrower–wider, it is more appropriate to use the stricter (Kant)–looser (Jaspers) distinction in the concept of rational faith, that, (second), has in both cases different grounding. Third, contrary to seeming opposition, where Kantian faith tends to overlap with Christian belief while for Jaspers a philosopher cannot be a believer in traditional sense, both get to a “sibling proximity” on the one hand and tension to traditional religion on the other.
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rational faith, philosophy, religion, Christianity, Kant, Jaspers
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Date
2025-10-6
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MDPI AG
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Religions
Religions
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DOI
10.3390/rel16101275
Citation
Sikora, O. (2025). The Middle Path of Rational Faith: Jaspers and Kant. Religions, 16(10), 1275. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101275