Kierkegaard and Kant on Radical Evil and the Highest Good

By: Roe Fremstedal

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Synopsis: Kierkegaard and Kant on Radical Evil and the Highest Good is a major study of Kierkegaard's relation to Kant that gives a comprehensive account of radical evil and the highest good, two controversial doctrines with important consequences for ethics and religion. Fremstedal offers an original account of Kierkegaard and his role in the history of philosophy that reconstructs several of his central ideas by relating them to Kant and partially also to contemporary debates. By offering a comparative presentation, the book shows how Kant and Kierkegaard offer different accounts of evil and its complex relations to religious faith and happiness. Fremstedal sheds new light on Kierkegaard's argument against secular thinking, and shows that there are more Kantian elements in Kierkegaard than has been acknowledged. Kierkegaard's use of Kantian ideas is instructive, since it points to problems with Kant's philosophy of religion and indicates how Kantian philosophy can be used to defend religious faith and hope.