Religion within the Boundaries of Mere Reason

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Core Ideas

The Features of an Ideal Community

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Core Ideas The Features of an Ideal Community

Kant says that a virtuous society must emerge if moral behavior is to become common. Such a virtuous society would recognize the difference between coercive political laws, such as speed limits and anti-loitering statutes, and unenforceable ethical laws. Ethical laws are private and impossible to enforce, but the ideal society would promote them. Kant thinks the best way to promote ethical laws is through the "church invisible." This church does not exist in the traditional sense; it is an ideal that actual churches should strive to emulate.

The invisible church exists to ensure that people will find the moral law accessible, relatively easy to understand, and relevant to their daily lives. The invisible church is universal; it applies equally to everyone. It is pure, promoting only that behavior that accords with the moral law. Its members freely accept the moral law rather than having it forced upon them. Finally, there is a morally acceptable hierarchy among its members.

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