The Single Individual and the Searcher of Hearts

Jeff Morgan argues that both Immanuel Kant and Sren Kierkegaard think of conscience as an individuals moral self-awareness before God, specifically before the claim God makes on each person. This innovative reading corrects prevailing views that both figures, especially Kant, lay the groundwork for the autonomous individual of modern life that is, the atomistic individual who is accountable chiefly to themselves as their own lawmaker. This book first challenges the dismissal of conscience in 20th-century Christian ethics, often in favour of an emphasis on corporate life and corporate self-understanding. Morgan shows that this dismissal is based on a misinterpretation of Immanuel Kants practical philosophy and moral theology, and of Sren Kierkegaards second authorship. He does this with refreshing discussions of Stanley Hauerwas, Oliver ODonovan, and other major figures. Morgan instead situates Kant and Kierkegaard within a broad trajectory in Christian thought in which an individuals moral self-awareness before God, as distinct from moral self-awareness before a community, is an essential feature of the Christian moral life.