Method of the Teleological Power of Judgment 1

The last part of the third Critique contends with two topics. The first explains how to employ the principle of teleology in empirical research of organic nature, further suggesting how it might be used to view organic nature as a single whole that evolved step-by-step from matter (§§80-81). The second is concerned with the task of bridging the gap between nature and freedom. It presents a partly new argument for the assumption of the highest good and the government of a benevolent God, but also repeats and gives pride of place to the familiar argument to these conclusions (§§82-91). It can be divided into three: 1) an argument from organized nature to the assumption of the highest good and a moral creator (§§82-84); 2) a presentation and comparison of the physicoteleological argument for the assumption of God as world-architect and the ethicotheological argument for the assumption of the highest good and a benevolent world-author (§§85-89; General Remark on the Teleology); 3) an epistemological reflection on the status of the latter argument and the important notion of practical affirmation or moral faith (§§90-91). The Methodology remains a relatively neglected part of the critical philosophy. It invites further scrutiny from those interested in Kant’s conception of teleology and biology, in particular, and those working on Kant’s multifaceted idea of God.