Stephen Palmquist

Stephen Richard Palmquist (born August 21, 1957) is a contemporary philosopher known for his work in Kant-studies, philosophy of religion, political theology, and the logic of symbolism. He is founder of several initiatives for facilitating reflective community conversation in Hong Kong, where he has taught since 1987, currently as Professor of Religion and Philosophy.

While working toward his D.Phil. in Philosophical Theology at St Peter's College, Oxford in the early 1980s, Palmquist established the fundamental tenet of his new method for interpreting the philosophy of Immanuel Kant: many apparent contradictions commentators find in Kant's Critical writings can be resolved by taking into account a "principle of perspective" that operates throughout Kant's philosophical writings.1 He also coined the term "synthetic logic", developed a new system of mapping logical relations onto geometrical figures, called The Geometry of Logic, and demonstrated how Kant's three Critiques can be mapped onto a single, coherent logical structure.2 This groundwork for a new way of interpreting Kant culminated in the 1993 publication of the first volume of a projected four-volume work entitled Kant's System of Perspectives.

Volume Two of Kant's System of Perspectives, entitled Kant's Critical Religion (2000), offers an extensive defense of what has come to be known as the "affirmative approach" to interpreting Kant's philosophy of religion.3 While Palmquist acknowledges several previous Kant-scholars who influenced his reading of Kant's philosophy of religion (most notably Allen Wood and Michael Despland4), he was the first to interpret Kant's entire philosophical system as having a "theocentric" orientation that would provide the foundation for a religion and theology that would restore to Christianity its pure and authentic form.5 Central to Palmquist's new paradigm is the claim that Kant's 1793 book, Religion within the Bounds of Bare Reason, attempts not to reduce religion to morality, but to raise morality to the level of religion: religious faith is necessary to fulfill a genuine need of reason that prevents human beings from being good unless they call upon divine assistance.6 More recently, Palmquist has traced the roots of panentheism to Kant's philosophy of religion7 and has discovered a transcendental argument for the presence of radical evil in human nature, that previous interpreters had been unable to locate in Kant's book on religion.8

The projected third and fourth volumes of Kant's System of Perspectives are to be entitled Kant's Critical Science and Kant's Critical Anthropology, respectively. Several published articles indicate the direction Palmquist will take in these works.9 In stark contrast to those who argue that Kant's philosophy of science is out of date, Palmquist portrays Kant's Copernican revolution (his transcendental idealism) as a turning point in the history of science that made possible all the major revolutions that took place during the 100 years after Kant's death. The concluding volume will present the theory of human nature Kant developed in his later writings on politics and history as a vision of human destiny that offers valuable insights even in the twenty-first century.10

While living in Hong Kong Palmquist witnessed the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 from close range. Surprised by the way local Christian churches tended to accept democracy as the Christian political system, he conducted an in depth study of what political philosophy, if any, is implicit in the Bible. After presenting the results at a series of conferences, Palmquist published a book,11 defending a special type of "theocracy" (or "God's rule"), whereby all humanly-organized political structures are inherently flawed. They can be regarded as "biblical" only insofar as a "non-political political system", with love as the only law, is grafted onto them. Palmquist carefully distinguishes this special brand of theocracy from the system whereby human beings act as God's representatives on earth; this worst of all possible political systems Palmquist calls "ecclesiocracy".

In addition to developing his own unique "perspectival" approach to philosophy, designing a system of logico-geometrical mapping, applying both of these to all areas of Kant-studies, and proposing a new approach to Christian political philosophy, Palmquist has written a series of three books designed for classroom teaching. This popular trilogy encourages self-understanding from three distinct angles: philosophy as a means of obtaining conscious insights; psychology as a means of gaining awareness into one's unconscious tendencies; and philopsychy (the combination of the two) as a means of improving the quality of one's interpersonal relationships.12

Palmquist actively promotes philosophical discussion, both in Hong Kong and abroad, and has founded several organizations devoted to this goal. Most notably, in July of 1999 he founded the Hong Kong Philosophy Cafe, which now has three active branches and a membership of over 500. He has also founded a philosophical retreat center, known as CIPHER ("Center for Insight into Philopsychic Health, Education and Renewal"), which holds retreats irregularly during summer and other school holidays.13 Palmquist has lectured extensively throughout the world, including Brazil, Canada, China, England, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Romania, South Korea, Switzerland, and the USA (Alaska, California, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee).14

Since 1995, Palmquist has maintained "Kant on the Web", one of the most exhaustive and frequently cited compilations of web resources available on the internet. This and other parts of his extensive website have won numerous awards for academic excellence. The website also includes a selection of his poetry.15

Footnotes

  1. ^ See for example Stephen Palmquist, "Six Perspectives on the Object in Kant's Theory of Knowledge", Dialectica 40:2 (1986), pp.121-151, later revised as Chapter VI in Kant's System of Perspectives: An architectonic interpretation of Kant's Critical philosophy (Lanham: University Press of America, 1993).
  2. ^ Stephen Palmquist, "The Architectonic Form of Kant's Copernican Logic", Metaphilosophy 17:4 (October 1986), pp.266-288. Palmquist's complete defense of the Geometry of Logic remains unpublished, but a concise summary is presented in his book, The Tree of Philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 2000), Chapter VI.
  3. ^ The "Editors' Introduction" to Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist (eds.), Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion (Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2006) traces the history of the interpretation of Kant's philosophy of religion and demonstrates that the affirmative approach has replaced the traditional (reductionist) approach as the dominant trend since the early to mid 1990s. The book itself contains essays by fourteen scholars, each of whom affirms (and/or views Kant as having himself affirmed) the value of religion and theology for ordinary religious believers. Peter Byrne, in Kant on God (Aldershot, England: Ashgate, 2007), p.2, cites Palmquist and John E. Hare as the two leading representatives of this new interpretive approach.
  4. ^ Allen Wood, Kant's Moral Religion (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1970) and Michael Despland, Kant on History and Religion (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1973).
  5. ^ While this religious and theological application played a role in his early doctoral research, Palmquist's first published defense of his position on Kantian religion came in his article, "Immanuel Kant: A Christian Philosopher?", Faith and Philosophy 6:1 (January 1989), pp.65-75. See also Palmquist's "Triangulating God: A Kantian Rejoinder to Perovich", Faith and Philosophy 11:2 (April 1994), pp.302-310.
  6. ^ Stephen Palmquist, "Does Kant Reduce Religion to Morality?", Kant-Studien 83:2 (1992), pp.129-148.
  7. ^ "Kant's Moral Panentheism", Philosophia 36:1 (2008), pp.17-28.
  8. ^ "Kant's Quasi-Transcendental Argument for a Necessary and Universal Evil Propensity in Human Nature", The Southern Journal of Philosophy 46.2 (Summer, 2008), pp.261-297.
  9. ^ Palmquist outlines the projected contents of volumes two through four in the first volume of Kant's System of Perspectives, Chapters X-XII. See also "Kant on Euclid: Geometry in Perspective", Philosophia Mathematica II 5:1/2 (1990), pp.88-113.
  10. ^ An early sketch of Palmquist's approach can be found in his article, "'The Kingdom of God is at Hand!' (Did Kant really say that?)", History of Philosophy Quarterly 11:4 (October 1994), pp.421-437.
  11. ^ Stephen Palmquist, Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1993).
  12. ^ The three books are: The Tree of Philosophy: A course of introductory lectures for students of philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1992 [2000]), Dreams of Wholeness: A course of introductory lectures on religion, psychology and personal growth (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1997 [2008]), and The Waters of Love: A course of introductory lectures on love, sexuality, marriage, and friendship (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 2003).
  13. ^ For an account of one such retreat, see section 2 of Palmquist's essay, "Philosophers in the Public Square: A Religious Resolution of Kant's Conflict of the Faculties", in Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist (eds.), Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), pp.230-254.
  14. ^ Details can be found on the personal pages of Palmquist's website.
  15. ^ Among Palmquist's published poems are: "Echoes of God's Presence", Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies XIX 1/2 (July 2007), p.180; and "Seagull's Song", in Howard Ely (ed.), Timeless Voices (Owings Mills, MD: The International Library of Poetry, 2006), p.1.

Bibliography

I. Books by Stephen Palmquist

  • Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion, co-edited with Chris L. Firestone (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, January 2006).
  • The Waters of Love: A course of introductory lectures on love, sexuality, marriage, and friendship (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 2003).
  • Kant's Critical Religion: Volume Two of Kant's System of Perspectives (London: Ashgate Publishing Company, 2000).
  • Dreams of Wholeness: A course of introductory lectures on religion, psychology and personal growth (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1997). (Second edition, 2008.)
    • Indonesian translation by Muhammad Shodiq as Fondasi Psikologi Perkembangan-Menyelami mimpi, mencapai kematangan diri (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2005).
  • Four Neglected Essays by Immanuel Kant (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1994).
  • Biblical Theocracy: A vision of the biblical foundations for a Christian political philosophy (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1993).
    • Chinese translation of pp.59-65, "Paul Tillich's Political Theology", Excellence, Issue 9 (December 1996), pp.8-9.
  • Kant's System of Perspectives: An architectonic interpretation of the Critical philosophy (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1993).
  • The Tree of Philosophy: A course of introductory lectures for beginning students of philosophy, (Hong Kong: Philopsychy Press, 1992). (Second edition, 1993; third edition, 1995; fourth enlarged edition, 2000.)
    • Indonesian translation by Muhammad Shodiq, as Pohon Filsafat: Teks Kuliah Pengantar Filsafat (Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar, 2002).
    • Chinese translation by Zhai Pengxiao, as Zhe Xue Zhi Shu (Guilin: Guangxi Normal University Press, May 2005).

II. Selected book chapters by Stephen Palmquist

  • "The Philosopher as a 'Secret Agent' for Peace: Taking Seriously Kant's Revival of the 'Old Question'", in Valerio Rohden, Ricardo R. Terra and Guido A. de Almeida (eds.), Recht und Frieden in der Philosophie Kants, vol. 4 of Akten des X. Internationalen Kant-Kongresses (Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, 2008), pp.601-612.
  • "Philosophers in the Public Square: A Religious Resolution of Kant's Conflict of the Faculties", in Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist (eds.), Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), pp.230-254.
  • "Editors' Introduction" (second half), in Chris L. Firestone and Stephen R. Palmquist, Kant and the New Philosophy of Religion (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), pp.15-30,35-39.
  • "Kant's Ideal of the University as a Model for World Peace", in Papers of International Conference on Two Hundred Years after Kant (Tehran, Iran: Allame Tabataba'i University Press, 2005), pp.207-222.
  • "Kant's Criticism of Swedenborg: Parapsychology and the Origin of the Copernican Hypothesis", in Fiona Steinkamp (ed.), Parapsychology, Philosophy and the Mind: Essays Honoring John Beloff (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., September 2002), pp.146-178.
  • "Philosophy of Religion after Kant and Kierkegaard", in D.Z. Phillips and Timothy Tessin (eds.), Kant and Kierkegaard on Religion (London: Macmillan, 2000), pp.245-262.
  • "What is 'Tantalizing' about the 'Gap' in Kant's Philosophical System?", in Stanley Tweyman and David A. Freeman (eds.), Studies in Early Modern Philosophy IV (Delmar, N.Y.: Caravan Books, 1997), pp.171-195.
  • "The Syntheticity of Time: Comments on Fang's Critique of Divine Computers", in J. Fang, Kant and Mathematics Today: Between epistemology and exact sciences (Lewiston, N.Y.: Edwin Mellen Press, 1997), pp.333-336.
  • "Kant-Studies in the Hong Kong Philosophical Context", in Hoke Robinson (ed.), Proceedings of the Eighth International Kant Congress, vol. I.3 (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 1995), pp.1257-1271.
  • "Knowledge and Experience: An Examination of the Four Reflective 'Perspectives' in Kant's Critical Philosophy", in R.F. Chadwick and C. Cazeaux (eds.), Immanuel Kant: Critical Assessments (London and New York: Routledge, 1992), vol. II (Kant's Critique of Pure Reason), pp.45-78.
  • "Kant's Theistic Solution to the Problem of Transcendental Theology", in Rodica Croitoru (ed.), Kant and the Transcendental Problem (Bucharest: University of Bucharest Faculty of Philoso¬phy, 1991), pp.148-178.

III. Selected articles by Stephen Palmquist

  • "Kant's Quasi-Transcendental Argument for a Necessary and Universal Evil Propensity in Human Nature", The Southern Journal of Philosophy 46.2 (Summer, 2008), pp.261-297.
  • "Kant's Moral Panentheism", Philosophia 36:1 (2008), pp.17-28.
  • "Kantian Redemption: A Critical Challenge to Christian Views of Faith and Works", Philosophia Christi 9.1 (Spring 2007), pp.29-38.
  • "Emergence, Evolution, and the Geometry of Logic: Causal Leaps and the Myth of Historical Development", Foundations of Science 12.1 (March 2007), pp.9-37.
  • "Silence as the Ultimate Fulfillment of the Philosophical Quest", Journal Hekmat Va Falsafeh, (Journal of Wisdom and Philosophy), Issue 6 (August 2006), pp.67-76.
  • "Kant's Categories and Jung's Types as Perspectival Maps To Stimulate Insight in a Counseling Session", International Journal of Philosophical Practice 3.1 (Summer 2005), pp.1ff.
  • "Kant, Buddhism, and the Moral Metaphysics of Medicine" (co-authored with Adriano Palomo), Journal of Indian Philosophy and Religion 7 (October 2002), pp.79-97.
  • "Philosophers' Views on the Use of Non-Essay Assessment Methods: Discussion of an E-Mail Survey", Teaching Philosophy 21.4 (1998), pp.373-391.
  • "Report on 'An E-Mail Survey Concerning the Use of Non-Essay Assessment Methods in Introductory Philosophy Classes'", American Philosophical Association Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy 97.2 (Spring 1998), pp.144-145.
  • "Kant's Critical Hermeneutic of Prayer", The Journal of Religion 77:4 (October 1997), pp.584-604.
    • Spanish translation as "Kant y hermenéutica crítica de la oración", in Oswaldo Plata Pineda (tr. and ed.), Estudios Kantianos (Popayán, Columbia: Universidad del Cauca, 2006), pp.181-218.
  • "How 'Chinese' Was Kant?" (abridged version), The Philosopher 84:1 (Spring 1996), pp.3-9.
    • Translated into Bosnian by Nevad Kahteran as "Koliko Je 'Kineski' Bio Kant?", in Dialogue 1-2 (April 2005), pp.190-207.
  • "'The Kingdom of God is at Hand!' (Did Kant really say that?)", History of Philosophy Quarterly 11:4 (October 1994), pp.421-437.
  • "Triangulating God: A Kantian Rejoinder to Perovich", Faith and Philosophy 11:2 (April 1994), pp.302-310.
  • "Kant's Theocentric Metaphysics", Analele Universitatii Din Timisoara 4 (1992), pp.55-70.
  • "Does Kant Reduce Religion to Morality?", Kant-Studien 83:2 (1992), pp.129-148.
  • "Kant's 'Appropriation' of Lampe's God", Harvard Theological Review 85:1 (January 1992), pp.85-108.
  • "Analysis and Synthesis in the Geometry of Logic", Indian Philosophical Quarterly 19:1 (January 1992), pp.1-14.
  • "Four Perspectives on Moral Judgement: The Rational Principles of Jesus and Kant", The Heythrop Journal 32:2 (April 1991), pp.216-232.
  • "Kant on Euclid: Geometry in Perspective", Philosophia Mathematica II 5:1/2 (1990), pp.88-113.
  • "Personal Knowledge in Perspective: A Reply to R.T. Allen's Questions", Tradition and Discovery XVI.2 (Spring 1988-89), pp.22-27.
  • "The Syntheticity of Time: Comments on Fang's Critique of Divine Computers", Philosophia Mathematica II 4:2 (1989), pp.233-235.
  • "Kant's Critique of Mysticism: (2) Critical Mysticism", Philosophy & Theology 4:1 (Fall 1989), pp.67-94.
  • "Kant's Critique of Mysticism: (1) The Critical Dreams", Philosophy & Theology 3:4 (Summer 1989), pp.355-383.
  • "Immanuel Kant: A Christian Philosopher?", Faith and Philosophy 6:1 (January 1989), pp.65-75.
  • "A Priori Knowledge in Perspective: (II) Naming, Necessity and the Analytic A Posteriori", The Review of Metaphysics 41:2 (December 1987), pp.255-282.
  • "A Priori Knowledge in Perspective: (I) Mathematics, Method and Pure Intuition", The Review of Metaphysics 41:1 (September 1987), pp.3-22.
  • "Kant's Cosmogony Re-Evaluated", Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 18:3 (September 1987), pp.255-269.
  • "Knowledge and Experience - An Examination of the Four Reflective 'Perspectives' in Kant's Critical Philosophy", Kant-Studien 78:2 (1987), pp.170-200.
  • "A Kantian Critique of Polanyi's 'Post-Critical Philosophy'", Convivium 24 (March 1987), pp.1-11.
  • "Is Duty Kant's 'Motive' for Moral Action?", Ratio 28:2 (December 1986), pp.168-174.
    • Translated into German by Joachim Schulte as "Ist die Pflicht Kants 'Triebfeder' des sittlichen Handelns?", Ratio 28:2 (December 1986), pp.152-158.
  • "The Architectonic Form of Kant's Copernican Logic", Metaphilosophy 17:4 (October 1986), pp.266-288.
  • "Six Perspectives on the Object in Kant's Theory of Knowledge", Dialectica 40:2 (1986), pp.121-151.
  • "The Radical Unknowability of Kant's 'Thing in Itself'", Cogito 3:2 (March 1985), pp.101-115.
  • "Faith as Kant's Key to the Justification of Transcendental Reflection", The Heythrop Journal 25:4 (October 1984), pp.442-455.

IV. Invited Lectureships/Keynote Speeches by Stephen Palmquist

  • January 2008: Philosophy of Religion Lectureship (a series of three lectures on Kant's philosophy of religion), sponsored by the Philosophy Department, Sogang University, Seoul, Korea.
  • June 2007: Keynote Address on "Kant's Religious Argument for the Existence of God" at a symposium on "The Position of God in Kant's Moral System", sponsored by the UK Kant Society and the Faculty of Law, Humanities, Development and Society at UCE Birmingham (now Birmingham City University), in Birmingham, England.
  • April 2007: Philosophy Lectureship on "Love at the Crossroads: Christ and Kant on the Great Commandment", at Trinity International University, Deerfield, Illinois.
  • May 2004: Invited Lecture on "Is Morality Kant's Religion?" for the Department of Philosophy, Peking University, Beijing, China.
  • April 1994 to May 2000: Six invited lectures (three times as Keynote Address) for the annual Faith and Philosophy Conferences held at Li Po Chun United World College in Shatin, Hong Kong on the following topics:
    • "Is God a Political Animal?" (5/00)
    • "Plato versus Christianity: Religious and Philosophical Reflections on Love and Friendship" (5/99)
    • "Jesus' Philosophy vs. Cultic Faith: Two Models of Religious Politics" (5/97)
    • "What is Religious Truth?" (5/96)
    • "Do Religion and Philosophy Unite or Divide Humanity?" (2/95)
    • "Existentialism: What does it mean to be?" (4/94).
  • May 1998: Philosophy Lectureship (a series of four seminars/workshops), on "Wholeness: Text and Context", at the Grace Institute for Religious Learning in Berkeley, California.
  • February 1998: Invited Lecture on "Philosophy of Religion after Kant and Kierkegaard" and Panelist for the annual Philosophy of Religion Conference at Claremont Graduate School in Claremont, California.
  • September 1995: Erasmus Society Inaugural Lecture on "Kant's Philosophy of Prayer", for the 1995-96 Erasmus Society at Westmont College, Santa Barbara, California.
  • June 1993: Philosophy Lectureship (a seminar series, entitled "Learning Philosophy") sponsored by the Grace Institute for Religious Learning in Berkeley, California.

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