What is happening when someone has a mystical experience, such as feeling at one with the universe or hearing Gods voice? Does philosophy provide tools for assessing such claims? Which claims can be dismissed as delusions and which ones convey genuine truths that might be universally meaningful? Valuable insights into such pressing questions can be found in the writings of Immanuel Kant, though few philosophical commentators have appreciated the implications beyond his famous Copernican hypothesis. InKant and Mysticism, Stephen R. Palmquist corrects this skewed view of Kant once and for all.

Beginning with a detailed analysis of Kants 1766 workDreams of a Spirit-Seer, Palmquist demonstrates that inDreamsKant first discovers and explains his plan to write a new, critical philosophy that will revolutionize metaphysics by laying bare the limits of human reason. Palmquist shows how the same metaphorical relationshipbetween reasons dreams (metaphysics) and sensibilitys dreams (mysticism)permeates Kants mature writings. Clarifying how Kants final (unfinished) book,Opus Postumum, completes this dual project, Palmquist explains how the critical mysticism entailed by Kants position has profound implications for contemporary understandings of religious and mystical experience, both by religious individuals and by philosophers seeking to understand such experiences.

Stephen R. Palmquist is professor of religion and philosophy at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Preface

Introduction: The Problem of Mystical Experience in Kant



Part I

Swedenborgs Influence on Kants Critical Awakening



Chapter 1 The Copernican Hypothesis as the Key to Kants Awakening from Dogmatic Slumber

Chapter 2 The Impact of Swedenborgs Mysticism on Kants Metaphysical Dreams

Chapter 3 Kants Awakening: The Copernican Hypothesis as the Key to Critical Mysticism

Chapter 4 Kants Metaphysical Dream: A System of Critical Philosophy



Part II

Kants Critical Philosophy as a Critique of Mysticism



Chapter 5 Does Mystical Experience Always Prompt Delirium?

Chapter 6 Kants Critique of Delirious Mysticism

Chapter 7 Critical Mysticism as Immediate Experience of the Moral

Chapter 8 Key Metaphors Guiding Kants Critical Mysticism



Part III

The Opus Postumum as an Experiment in Critical Mysticism

Chapter 9 Can the Original (Threefold) Synthesis Be Consciously Experienced?

Chapter 10 The Categorical Imperative as the Voice of God

Chapter 11 Matters Living Force as Immediate Experience of the World

Chapter 12 The Highest Purpose of Philosophy as Exhibiting the GodMan



Conclusion Kantian Mysticism for the Twenty-First Century