Kant’s Religion within
the Limits of Reason Alone
In this
class, one of the themes that popped up frequently over the course of the
novels we read was the struggle between good and evil. The many moral struggles
that occur in Narnia, the fights between Ransom and Weston in The Space Trilogy, and a whole group of
dualities in Till We Have Faces
(Orual vs. Cupid? Orual vs. herself?), all show a distinct fight between good
and evil.
Because it
has been the central theme for so many of my classes this semester, I figured
I’d analyze some of these characters from a Kantian perspective. In Religion within the Limits of Reason Alone, Immanuel
Kant distinguishes the different types of morality. He essentially claims that
all human beings hear the call of the moral law. And the choice that all people
are presented with is whether or not they want to follow the moral law or act
on self-love. There is an interesting level of this spectrum that occurs when
an individual does not hear the call of the moral law, and is either legally
insane or simply a “non-person.” However, most people fall into various places
on the spectrum of morality.
So what
about someone like Uncle Andrew? Obviously he isn’t the best character, as he
is rude and rather full of himself (he presumes that he will get Jadis to fall
in love with him immediately), but is he evil? He certainly tries to be selfish
when he gets to the nothingness that becomes Narnia, as he tries to leave
Strawberry and the horse. He also attempts to use Narnia only to make profit
(which violates the Categorical Imperative). Also, however, consider Weston.
Weston has a similar profit-making scheme, as he tries to steal gold from Malacandra.
But he has little care for Ransom or even his own partner, as his self-love
trumps all.
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