Kant’s Transcendentalism and Tillich’s Ontological Theology

Abstract

The article discusses Paul Tillich’s ontology against the background of Kant’s transcendental philosophy, and attempts to show that Tillich criticizes Kant’s critical demarcation of knowledge, on the one hand, and incorporates the categorial forms of Kant’s transcendental philosophy into his ontology, on the other. When constructing the concept of ontology, Tillich uses Kant’s categorical analysis and critique of metaphysics. Thus, Tillich’s approach to Kant’s epistemology is polemical and requires a deeper analysis. Like Kant, Tillich raises the question of what it means to exist and how this existence relates to God. Although Kant’s transcendental dialectic justifies the impossibility of proving God through intellectual operations, the mind can contemplate ultimate reality. For both thinkers, the main problem becomes the application of reason beyond its theoretical competence.

Keywords

• kant
• tillich
• transcendental horizon
• categories
• ontology
• finitude