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Full Idea
The church [as opposed to religion] fulfils a genuine political necessity, for it enables the people to regard themselves as subjects of an invisible supreme power to which they must pay homage.
Gist of Idea
The church has a political role, by offering a supreme power over people
Source
Immanuel Kant (Metaphysics of Morals I: Doctrine of Right [1797], §49 Gen C)
Book Ref
Kant,Immanuel: 'Political Writings', ed/tr. Reiss,Hans [CUP 1996], p.150
A Reaction
I'm sure I remember Marx putting a different spin on this point… This idea captures the conservative attitude to established religion, at least in the UK.
Related Idea
Idea 7128 Religion is the opium of the people, and real happiness requires its abolition [Marx]
| 21407 | Equality is not being bound in ways you cannot bind others [Kant] |
| 21080 | Actions are right if the maxim respects universal mutual freedoms [Kant] |
| 21081 | We are equipped with the a priori intuitions needed for the concept of right [Kant] |
| 21406 | Because there is only one human reason, there can only be one true philosophy from principles [Kant] |
| 21082 | A power-based state of nature may not be unjust, but there is no justice without competent judges [Kant] |
| 21083 | Women have no role in politics [Kant] |
| 21084 | In the contract people lose their rights, but immediately regain them, in the new commonwealth [Kant] |
| 21085 | The church has a political role, by offering a supreme power over people [Kant] |
| 21086 | Hereditary nobility has not been earned, and probably won't be earned [Kant] |
| 21087 | Human life is pointless without justice [Kant] |
| 21088 | Justice asserts the death penalty for murder, from a priori laws [Kant] |
| 21089 | Monarchs have the highest power; autocrats have complete power [Kant] |
| 21090 | If someone has largely made something, then they own it [Kant] |