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Lewis White Beck

In one such family, Beck calls our attention to philosophers who utilized an appeal to mankind's scientific and philosophical endeavors in order to impose various limits upon the scope, validity and content of religious beliefs. Beck included the works of Baruch Spinoza, David Hume and Immanuel Kant within this family. In Beck's view, Kantian ethics paved the way toward a more comprehensive modern secular philosophical paradigm in several ways. By specifically rejecting Spinoza's appeal to a strict monism, Kant parted ways with Spinoza's reliance upon a deity to assume a central role in modern ethical theory. Beck argued further that Kant's ethical theories are in agreement with Hume's assertion that scientific interpretations of nature cannot by themselves serve to confirm religious belief. Yet, as Beck quickly reminds his readers, Kant also distanced himself from Hume by insisting that mankind is not consequently left entirely adrift without a moral compass. According to Beck's reading, Kant clearly asserts that mankind should regard moral law "as if" it were a divine command which unites people "as if" they were in common allegiance to such a "supposed" deity. This is accomplished through Kant's appeal to a different rational basis for religious thoughts and values which can be found in mankind's moral consciousness.