The Enlightenment Kant

The philosophers of the eighteenth century departed from analytical reasoning of mathematics, science, and existence of God in the establishment of parameters in social, political, and religious life for the phenomena and focus on the capability of human beings. The Age of Enlightenment introduced a new era of thought exploiting the capability of humans in shaping the aspects of society without the dependency or reasoning of God. Although the Enlightenment promised an age of wisdom and knowledge, Immanuel Kant defined the age as a gradual awakening of society bounded by and dictated by others while abandoning reason. Immanuel Kant (1724-1894) defined the process of enlightenment as, “man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity,” while

Majority of humanity cannot break their natural state of immaturity alone and must band, publicly, and given freedom to inevitably reach enlightenment. In reference to freedom, Kant specifically mentions the freedom to make public use of reason in societal concerns. Freedom would allow the public, unanimously, to think freely and act judiciously, which grants the freedom to honestly express thoughts over religious, political, or social concerns. Freedom, therefore, is paramount for enlightenment because new ideas can be generated if the public can freely speak their thoughts without risk or fear of

Kant stated, “Perhaps a revolution can overthrow autocratic despotism […] but never a true reform […] new prejudices, just like the old ones they replace, will serve as guiding reins for the great unthinking mass” (21). Essentially, revolutions are counter production because as new ideas replace the previous ideas, the recent ideas will impose over the immature, unthinking population like the old ideas did before. Instead, Kant encourages the people to continue their civil obedience to the military, church, and government, which indicates, in my opinion, his reference for rule by an educated elite. Kant’s notions of enlightenment persist in relevance to our time because his notions brushes on the topic of freedom of speech while simultaneously obeying the laws ordained by the governing body of the land. For instance, although Kant stresses the importance of obedience to the law, he clearly indicates the right to have the freedom to courageously voice what one believes to be wrong and suggest improvement. Furthermore, as Kant advocates freedom of speech, which is deeply ingrained in the body United States constitution, he also advocates the acceptance of diverse