Abstract: Often referred to as the father of modern theology, F. D. E. Schleiermacher occasioned a revolution in theology having a decisive impact on all subsequent theology. This book argues that Schleiermacher's philosophical ethics constitutes a completely original project, and is arguably his most important achievement. The book examines Schleiermacher's claim that the self relates to the ‘whence’ of all that is through the ground of self-consciousness, and shows how this understanding allowed Schleiermacher to develop a philosophical system integrally linking religion and ethics. Because this whence relates to self-consciousness in the way of a formal cause, the most important criteria for what constitutes genuine religion are the ethical fruits expressive of a proper relation to the divine. In Christian Faith, Schleiermacher argues that insofar as the personal self-consciousness has been transformed through openness to this whence, the actions that arise from it, too, will be different from those of the former self. This book is an analysis of how Schleiermacher conceived of this transformation, the conditions of its possibility, and the nature of its effects. This is accomplished through an examination of his metaphysics of the self, especially Schleiermacher's understanding of the immediate self-consciousness and its relation to the divine causality, the nature of self-consciousness and personal identity, the nature of agency, and the relation between self and society. This book demonstrates that Schleiermacher's achievement offers a compelling, live option for contemporary debates concerning the relation of religion and morality.

Keywords: metaphysics, immediate self-consciousness, divine causality, personal identity, agency, religion, ethics, morality, self and society