Kant’s famous text about Enlightenment is below. You can also find the German original on this site. “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance from another. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding.
Kant: Enlightenment and the Aesthetics of the Self Kant believed that for enlightenment to be brought about, the individual would require freedom to think freely for themselves, and the ability to manifest their well-reasoned ideas. A concern arises from this belief; is it always acceptable to allow for people to manifest their reason.
First of all, Immanuel Kant suggests that enlightenment is a process of becoming mature. This statement is a key argument of his conceptualization, which makes it worth a detailed discussion. Maturity is recognized not as presence of certain practical life knowledge and experience, but as the ability of an individual to use this expertise.
The essay concludes with Kant castigating individuals who reject the pursuit of enlightenment by arguing that in doing so they adversely impact the enlightenment of all. Indeed, enlightenment is transcendent of the individual; the freedom to act grows exponentially with the attaining of enlightenment.
From this foundation, Kant constructed an essay that asks what is enlightenment and identifies the greatest enemies to enlightenment and their purposes for doing so. This section is currently locked Someone from the community is currently working feverishly to complete this section of the study guide.
Essay Enlightment And Kant's Theory Of Enlightenment. The enlightenment was a reformation of thought. Philosophers sought to question if the facts we are given are true and define enlightenment. Kant and Descartes discuss enlightenment in the context of intellect whereas Lessing and Smith discuss enlightenment of toleration and compassion.
Kant indicates right away that the 'way out' that characterizes Enlightenment is a process that releases us from the status of 'immaturity.' And by 'immaturity,' he means a certain state of our will that makes us accept someone else's authority to lead us in areas where the use of reason is called for. Kant gives.
Following Lessing and Mendelssohn, Kant defines the Enlightenment philosophy as the “exit out the guardianship state” that is to say a state where the man is incapable to use by himself his reason. This condition is due to heteronomous will because it results from a lack of “resolution” and “courage.