Kant with Sade: The Moral Argument and Radical Evil

·1 hr 1 min·5 clips

Paul Axton argues that human religion's foundation is murderous, challenging universal moral arguments.

In this episode of Forging Plowshares, Paul Axton, Director of Forging Plowshares and Plowshares Bible Institute, continues a series on imaginative apologetics. He begins by challenging the presumption that universal morality and religion align with biblical teachings, asserting that human religion has a murderous foundation, influenced by Rene Girard's theories. Axton critiques Immanuel Kant's moral argument, noting that the categorical imperative lacks specific moral content and has been used to justify evil. He explains Kant's concept of radical evil, where freedom leads to a propensity for wrongdoing. The discussion incorporates Freudian psychoanalysis, linking Kant's ideas to the superego and moral masochism. Axton uses historical and literary examples to illustrate his points, including Hannah Arendt's analysis of Adolf Eichmann and the banality of evil, Yukio Mishima's ritual suicide as an expression of duty, and the fictional Colonel Jessup from 'A Few Good Men'. He also references the Marquis de Sade and Lacanian theory to explore desire and the death drive. The episode critiques traditional moral and religious arguments for God, such as those by C.S. Lewis, arguing they ignore the deadly nature of ethics. Axton proposes an alternative 'immoral argument' for God, starting from evil rather than good, and connects this to Pauline theology, particularly Romans 7, which describes the law's relationship to sin and death. The episode concludes by emphasizing the need to address the origins of evil in theological discussions, especially in a post-Holocaust context.

As heard by us

A demanding theological critique of moral arguments, Kantian freedom, and the violent roots of religion and morality.

Forging Plowshares continues Paul Axton's series on imaginative apologetics with a sharp look at the assumptions behind religious and moral arguments for God.

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Press play when you want Kant's radical evil brought into the moral and religious arguments for God.

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