The Correlation among Religion and Work in the Philosophy of German Idealism

The philosophy that built by German Idealism is obtained and never neglected religion, this is not about the religious dogmas or the fantasy and legendary nature of religion, but it is about the spirit and the crux of religion. Nevertheless, there is always struggled to deprive it from fantasies and rebuilt by philosophical ideas. These ideal philosophers are asserted to reconstruct the stories and imaginary schemes of religion into philosophical and rational thinking. There is a change in the result of this process which is religion is retreated and the metaphysics is slightly appeared. In other word, this change is directed from revelation to metaphysical views. In the light of this, the German Idealism is taking two different ways toward religion: the negative direction; which is involved to the critical studies of the basis and construction of religion, and the positive direction; this direction is returned to religion, but this return is happened after reconstruct religion by the critical and rational process. The relation between religion and ethics is one of the subjects that represent this division toward religion. For instance, if we read Kant, Fichte and Schelling, regardless some details and differences between them, and regardless the stages of developing their philosophies, in the general, their philosophy not tried too much to approve the existence of God in the rational way, and they asserted that it is impossible to approve God’s existence in the rational way. That is why in the basic moral is independent and ties to ration not religion. The ethical values are absolute, they legitimate themselves by themselves, and they are not legitimated by the transcendental power out of them. The bad is bad, and the good is good, that is why morality became the first foundation for religion, and the true religion is the one is compatible with rational morality. Even, morality is not complete by itself, because it needs motivations and goals, these motivations and goals are not existing inside the morality itself, just God can provide these motivations and goals to make morality complete. God can make human be a moral creature, in return, God reaches human to the endless happiness. To gain this endless happiness which is not available in this life, it requires soul immortality. Form this point, the God and soul immortality which is not approved by ration, the morality make them a logical and obligation necessity.