Enlightenment Kant

For this essay I have chosen the non-fiction story “what is Enlightenment” written by Immanuel Kant. Kant defines Enlightenment as Freedom. For me Enlightenment is not an illusion but an ongoing process. To debate this topic of freedom in this essay I have chosen two passages, one from pg#106 3rd paragraph which discusses that freedom in public use of one’s reason and pg#109 2nd paragraph freedom in form of religious restrains. My interest in these two points are mainly because it relates to my life that in this modern day and age I still don’t fell free, I feel that some form of restriction always binds me.
Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is a man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. An Enlightened person doesn’t let others think for him, but for this we require nothing but freedom, the freedom to make public use of it and with being reasonable at every point. Although

we have some form of freedom of speech while we are in public it doesn’t really matter, because no matter what no one hears us, we can argue about it but in the end, we must obey and follow all these man-made rules. As Mr. Kant Mentions in one of his paragraphs “The officer says: Do not argue but drill! The tax collector says: Do not argue but pay! The cleric says: Do not argue but Believe!”. We find restrictions of freedom everywhere. In school our professors decide that a book has all information for me, in a temple the preacher guides me through the sense of right and wrong, a doctor/physician who advise and recommend something beneficial as my diet. If we have all these people doing the thinking and all things that matter for us, then how are we going to be free to use our own judgement and become mature. If we ever do something using out own perception we are always warned that If we don’t follow their set of rules, then something bad will happen to us. They always keep us in fear so that we will always need their guidance and can never think free for our self.
There are so many rules to follow, if you go to any government office they require so many forms of identification and even If you have them all they still find some fault and if you try to justify it what do we hear “Do not argue”, these rules are there to help the people not to overthrow them. From My personal experience, I use the NYC identification card, when I go to the bank to withdraw money from my own account they as for ID and when I provide my NYC id they do not accept It and they require a state id or drivers license, even though I verified my account using all the information they asked me, still the wouldn’t let me withdraw money from my account stating that it’s the bank rules that they don’t accept the NYC ID. So, what good is this form of government id that I carry around if I can’t even access my bank or what good is this bank where I keep my money for safety which they won’t let me access.
When we are at work, we must follow certain rules, if we find any indiscretion in these rules is there anything we can do about it? No! it’s either we follow them or get fired. I work in a retail store, where will sell and repair phones. At times when a customer brings a phone for repair and the technician knows that this phone can’t be fixed he still takes the phone for repair and lets the customer know if it won’t be fixed there is a diagnostic fee. Obviously, I know this is morally wrong, but if I say something I can lose my job, which is already hard to find. That’s when I feel the most de-enlightened, where the people try to control us, there is no form of freedom of speech. This is what I extract from this passage and I feel like it is true, using this as my evidence “Argue as much as you will, and about what you will, but obey!”. I believe that the public use of one’s reason must be free always, this alone can bring enlightenment to humans.
Kant’s concern that religious authorities might try to shut-off freedom of thought and he suggests that we must think for ourselves.

Kant lived at a time when Monarchy was prevalent in the world and it was considered one of the best ways of running a country. He was concerned about the place of religious belief in human though and action. As he mentions “the escape of men from their self-incurred tutelage—chiefly in matters of religion because our rulers have no interest in playing the guardian”. By which he means Freedom is essential for enlightenment. He says that guardians will often warn you of dangers you could encounter if you do not use their assistance, which frightens people from making attempts towards maturity and thinking for themselves. People must be able to express their thoughts even when it comes to religious matters. By spreading ideas and information, people will be able to be their own guardians. By allowing freedom of thought, people will spread ideas which will urge others to think for

themselves.
Freedom in Religion or shall I say freedom of belief that an individual has towards their religion. Religion has both brought mankind together and divided them over the centuries. It also brings meaning to people’s lives, it can also bring a sense of hope and inspiration to people. Religious institutions can provide social unity, with people sharing common aims, values, and moral systems. Churches, temples, synagogues etc provide places for the community to meet and socialize together. But at the same time Religion has historically been a source of war, it creates conflict/Hate between people. Religious people tend to believe that their religion is the only correct one, and all the others are fake. It also restricts freedom of thought, by encouraging the idea that significant answers of life can only be found in a fixed and specific book or belief system. Religion often uses fear to gain itself power, such as threatening people with Hell. With so many pros and cons in our religion and belief system, one can only wonder how they can be enlightened with following all these rules and regulations that each religion puts them up to.