Die Wunderkritik Immanuel Kants

Abstract

The issue of supernatural intervention in the law-like process of nature has always occupied not only theologians but also philosophers of nature and epistemologists. This question did not first arise during the modern discussion but has deep roots that go back as far as the ancient world. However, the modern discussion as such began to take shape at the beginning phase of modern Naturphilosophie, during the 17^th and 18^th centuries. Classic Jewish and Christian theology has always affirmed the possibility of divine intervention in the processes of the world. Immanuel Kant, as the formative philosopher of the German enlightenment, clearly opposed this position. Oddly, though, little attention has been paid to his analysis. Thus, it is appropriate to systematically examine Kant's critique of miracles. The purpose of this study, though, is not simply to investigate historical dependencies and the development of terminology up to Kant, but also to use Kant's argumentation as a foil for the examination of the modern conflict between naturalism and theism.

Kant openly admitted his dependency upon the Scottish sceptic, David Hume. Thus, in the first part of this study, Hume's epistemology is examined as the background to his comments about miracles in the 10^th Chapter of the Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.

This leads to Kant's analysis and evaluation of the recently formulated Newtonian theories of mechanics and gravitation. A detailed investigation of Kant's argumentation in the Universal Natural History and Theory of Heaven and The Only Possible Ground of Proof of God's Existence follows.

The author then turns his attention to the epistemological approach characteristic of Kant's "critical" phase, since Kant's essay rejecting any possible miraculous event belongs to that period. The argumentation itself leads the investigation deep into Kant's conception of space and time and shows clearly the formal and material presuppositions of Kant's chain of proof. It is shown that Kant's argument for the apriori impossiblity of miracles rests upon his view that certain factual assumptions are incontrovertible. However, in light of modern knowledge, these assumptions can no longer be maintained.

The concluding part of the study then takes the insights and issues gained from the previous historical analysis and turns to the highly relevant modern debate between consistent naturalism and supernatural theism.