THE
MORAL GAP:
KANTIAN ETHICS, HUMAN LIMITS,
AND GOD'S
ASSISTANCE
by John E. Hare
THIS
book is about the gap between the moral demand on us and our natural capacities
to meet it. John hare starts with Kant's statement of the moral demand and
his acknowledgment of this gap. hare then analyses Kant's use of the resources
of the Christian tradition to make sense of this gap, especially the notions
of revelation, providence, and God's grace. Kant reflections the traditional
way of making sense of the gap, which is to invoke God's assistance in bridging
it. Hare goes on to examine various contemporary philosophers who do not
use these resources. He considers three main strategies: exaggerating our
natural capacities, diminishing the moral demand, and finding some naturalistic
substitute for God's assistance. he argues that these strategies do not
work, and that we are therefor left with the gap and with the problem that
is unreasonable to demand of ourselves a standard which we cannot reach.
in the final section of the book, Hare looks in more detail at the Christian
doctrines of atonement, justification, and sanctification. he discusses
Kierkegaard's account of the relation between the ethical life and the Christian
life, and ends by considering human forgiveness, and the ways in which God's
forgiveness is both like and unlike our forgiveness of each other.The book is intended for those interested in both ethical theory and Christian theology.
Table of Contents
Introduction
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