Matthias Hoesch, M.A.

Philosophy Department

Curriculum Vitae:

PhD Project

“End of Nature” and “Divine Providence”
The secularisation of Christian eschatology in Kant’s philosophy of religion and history

The emergence of philosophies of history in the 18th century can be described as a secularisation of the biblical-Christian eschatology. The idea of a purposeful course of history is transferred from the salvific history to the profane, that is, above all political history. This historical correlation, which certainly has to be relativised in detail, was taken up from different angles in order to account for positions ranging from harsh criticism to the tentative rehabilitation of the philosophy of history. For Karl Löwith, the secularisation context illustrates that the philosophy of history is not even possible; Jakob Taubes takes it as proof that the interpretation of history is reserved for theology; and according to Hans Blumenberg, the philosophy of history is part of the “legitimacy of the modern age” particularly because of its allegedly successful emancipation. Finally, the secularisation context is supplemented by Odo Marquard’s hypothesis that the elimination of God from history solves the problem of theodicy, insofar representing an atheismus ad maiorem Dei gloriam; the allegedly secular philosophy of history gets into the context of theological interests.

The thesis will examine the extent to which Kant’s practical philosophy makes recourse to secularised elements of eschatology, critically discussing on this basis the possibility of a secular philosophy of history. Provided that parallels between eschatology and the history of philosophy can be  upidentified, the history of philosophy “inherits” the problems of eschatology without them being solvable by reference to a non circumventable concept of God. In addition to the issue of epistemological foundation, the justification of suffering and injustice is particularly controversial as these were regarded as means on the way towards a subsequent, all the more desirable state.

Two stages of secularisation can be identified with Kant: on the one hand, the concept of religion itself is secularised and, in this context, the Christian eschatology is expressly taken as a model of moral advancement. On the other hand, “divine providence” increasingly disappears in Kant’s philosophy of history in favour of the “great artist nature” or “end of nature”, respectively; thus, the eschatological elements are transferred into an allegedly secular context. The type of relation between religion and history within the Kantian system is highly controversial in research and will be discussed in detail.

Function within the Cluster:

• Member of the Graduate School
• Research assistant within project A17 Constellation of Religious and State Criticism in Left Hegelianism

Research Interests:

• Kant's practical philosophy
• modern and contemporary political philosophy
• philosophy of religion
• concept of secularisation

Publications:

• Lässt Kants Völkerbund als Mitgliedsstaaten nur Republiken zu?, in: Kant-Studien 1/2012, 114-125.
• with Claus Lüdenbach: Subsidiarität und Föderalismus in der Weltrepublik, in: Sebastian Laukötter / Andreas Vieth (Eds.): Otfried Höffe. Praktische Philosophie im Diskurs, Frankfurt/Main 2009, 149-158.
• with Benedikt Göcke, Peter Rohs: How to Heckle Swinburne on God and Time, in: Christian Weidemann u.a. (Eds.): Richard Swinburne. Christian Philosophy in a Modern World, Frankfurt/Main 2008, 75-84.

Online:

• Geschichte und Theodizee bei Kant, Lecture at the "XXII. Deutscher Kongress für Philosophie", Munich 2011.
• Globale oder kontinentale Rechts- und Friedensordnung? Der Europagedanke in der Neuzeit aus rechtsphilosophischer Perspektive, München 2008.

Reviews:

• Dietmar von der Pfordten: Normative Ethik, in: Ethical Theory and Moral Practice, forthcoming 2012.
• Immanuel Kant: Zum ewigen Frieden und Auszüge aus der Rechtslehre. Kommentar von Oliver Eberl und Peter Niesen, in: Zeitschrift für philosophische Forschung 4/2011, 614-617.
• Samuel Klar: Moral und Politik bei Kant. Eine Untersuchung zu Kants praktischer und politischer Philosophie im Ausgang der "Religion innerhalb der Grenzen der bloßen Vernunft", in: Philosophischer Literaturanzeiger Vol. 63 (1), 2010, 1-4.

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