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Immanual Kant is one of the most important philosophers who ever lived. Kant did believe in God, yet he was skeptical of the ability of human reason to know anything about the Transcendent, including whether God exists. Why did Kant hold this view?
In his notoriously difficult book Critique of Pure Reason, Kant drew a distinction between the reality of things in themselves (noumena) and things as they appear to us (phenomena). Our concepts apply to the appearances of the world, since our concepts are derived from these appearances. But we cannot know the reality of things in themselves, so our concepts cannot give us knowledge of that reality.
How does God fit into this distinction between appearance and reality? If our concepts don’t help us to know the reality of things in themselves, then our concepts cannot help us to the reality of God in himself. God does not appear in the world like an elephant explored by blind men. Our concepts can properly apply to the appearance of the elephant, which we can see, touch, and smell. But our concepts cannot apply to what does not appear to our senses, such as God. Thus, if Kant is right about how our concepts relate to appearance and reality, our concepts cannot give us any knowledge of God. The great University of Notre Dame philosopher Alvin Plantinga summarizes Kant’s point as follows: “God, who is reality in excelsis, is so far above us, or beyond us, that our puny minds can’t reach him at all. Our minds, and our thought, our language simply have no purchase on God.” So, since our arguments and thoughts use our human concepts, Plantinga establishes that it is impossible not only to argue for the existence of God but also for us to know anything whatsoever about God.
Continued below.
www.wordonfire.org
In his notoriously difficult book Critique of Pure Reason, Kant drew a distinction between the reality of things in themselves (noumena) and things as they appear to us (phenomena). Our concepts apply to the appearances of the world, since our concepts are derived from these appearances. But we cannot know the reality of things in themselves, so our concepts cannot give us knowledge of that reality.
How does God fit into this distinction between appearance and reality? If our concepts don’t help us to know the reality of things in themselves, then our concepts cannot help us to the reality of God in himself. God does not appear in the world like an elephant explored by blind men. Our concepts can properly apply to the appearance of the elephant, which we can see, touch, and smell. But our concepts cannot apply to what does not appear to our senses, such as God. Thus, if Kant is right about how our concepts relate to appearance and reality, our concepts cannot give us any knowledge of God. The great University of Notre Dame philosopher Alvin Plantinga summarizes Kant’s point as follows: “God, who is reality in excelsis, is so far above us, or beyond us, that our puny minds can’t reach him at all. Our minds, and our thought, our language simply have no purchase on God.” So, since our arguments and thoughts use our human concepts, Plantinga establishes that it is impossible not only to argue for the existence of God but also for us to know anything whatsoever about God.
Continued below.
Is it Impossible to Know Anything About God? - Word on Fire
Alvin Plantinga shows while our finite minds cannot comprehend an infinite God, it doesn't mean we cannot know anything at all about God.
www.wordonfire.org
