Kant’s moral teleology of hope
Kant’s moral teleology of hope

Summary/Abstract: This paper examines Kant’s concept of hope within the framework of his theoretical and practical philosophy, focusing on the relation between morality, happiness, and the highest good. Hope is understood as a rationally justified expectation of happiness conditional upon moral action and is therefore subordinate to duty. While hope for happiness must not serve as the motive of moral action, it may legitimately accompany and sustain it. The transition from moral teleology to moral theology is interpreted as a reflective justification of rational hope, in which God’s existence is not theoretically proven but postulated as a condition of moral assurance and of the meaningfulness of moral striving in a world of finite, purposive beings. Hope is thus necessarily situated beyond the limits of theoretical cognition, and it is precisely through this limitation that it finds its proper place within moral teleology.

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