FROM EPISTEMOLOGY TO ETHICS: Theoretical and Practical Reason in Kant and Douglass

Author: Golden, Timothy J.

Source: Journal of Religious Ethics, Volume 40, Number 4, 1 December 2012 , pp. 603-628(26)

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Abstract:

<title type="main">ABSTRACT</title>

The aim of this essay is to provide a philosophical discussion of Frederick Douglass's thought in relation to Christianity. I expand upon the work of Bill E. Lawson and Frank M. Kirkland-who both argue that there are Kantian features present in Douglass as it relates to his conception of the individual-by arguing that there are similarities between Douglass and Kant not only concerning the relationship between morality and Christianity, but also concerning the nature of the soul. Specifically, I try to show that the moral weakness of slaveholding Christianity that Douglass attacked is found in the ecclesial formation of the slaveholding Christian church; it is a formation that begins with epistemology, but ignores ethics. I conclude, in part, that both Douglass and Kant reject a Cartesian psychological dualism in favor of a conception of the soul that is more attentive to one's moral development.

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9795.2012.00540.x

Affiliations: 1: West Chester University of Pennsylvania

Publication date: 2012-12-01