On Moral Perfection: An Atemporal Reading of Kant's Postulate of Immortality

Abstract In this paper, I offer a novel interpretation of Kant's postulate of immortality from the Critique of Practical Reason, arguing that immortality should be understood as an atemporal state in which the moral agent, freed from sensibility, is purely rational. Drawing on Kant's discussion in “The End of All Things,” I contend that the eschatological depiction Kant presents in this text is consistent with the postulate's aspirations for establishing the possibility of moral perfection, rather than signaling a change in his view. This account addresses both a philosophical and historical gap, providing content to the postulate of immortality that coheres with its moral aims and demonstrates Kant's consistent understanding of the afterlife across his works.