Kant's "What is Enlightenment ?" (1784)

"The starry heavens above and the moral laws within" - Kant

1. Kant was a "religious" empiricist, without theoretical reason.

2. He was a German philosopher who was born in Russia, but his parents were from Scotland.

3. His mother was a "methodist" (pietist), and this religious bringing up influenced him a lot.

4. He was a better teacher than a writer. He categorized students into three groups : geniuses, average, idiots - He believed that only the average students needed help.

5. His earlier books were on physics, heavenly bodies etc. He thought there was life on other planets as well. He believed that humans came from animals by evolution, even before the theory of Darwin came.

6. In order to fully understand his philosophy, a brief look at other philosophers around that time is necessary.
  # VOLTAIRE : French philosopher who propagated the ideas of liberty, equality, and fraternity. In him we see theoretical reason without religion.
  # LOCKE : said that, there is nothing called matter. He meant that our experiences are solely dependent on our senses. Other than that, we have got nothing to prove that something 'IS'.
  # HUME : said that, if there is no matter, then there is no mind. Because our mind is a combination of ideas acquired through our sensations. Impressions are immediate sensations and ideas are formed through impressions.
  # ROUSSEAU : human attempt to think or reflect is completely unnatural. He said, "thinking man is a deprived animal".

7. KANT
  # Kant is trying to building on the ideas of Locke and Hume to form a new one.
  # In his "The Critique of Pure Reason", he talks about pure reason.
  # Pure Reason is that which is already inherent in us. It is not affected by our senses.
  # Senses distort distort our understanding of things, rather than give us a complete idea.
  # He says that we must not arrive on a conclusion based on a false premise (which is the idea that knowledge comes from sensations).

WHAT IS ENLIGHTENMENT... ?

#  Kant says, "Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity". He defines this Immaturity as "the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another".

# The motto of Enlightenment should be "Sapere aude" (dare to know), that is having courage to use our reason.

# Kant gives two reasons for this immaturity; laziness and cowardice.

# When we have a book to tell us what to do, or a preacher to instruct us, or a doctor to always care for us, we needn't trouble ourselves with anything, because others are there to do our work for us. This is Laziness and is very much wrong.

# He speaks about those whom he refers to as the "guardians". They are men who have assumed a superior role in society. They themselves take up the responsibility of many things in the world and instruct others to follow them blindly. They are actually intimidating the common folk and are trying to tame the general public.

# For a single individual, it is impossible to come out of this self imposed immaturity.
He may possess the remarkable faculty of reason and may be willing to use it. But the so-called guardians and their followers wont allow him to use his natural gifts and emerge free.
Yet, there are those who have succeeded "by their own exercise of mind both in freeing themselves from incompetence and in achieving a steady pace".

# Kant says that if freedom is granted, enlightenment will come automatically. Because, there will always be many free thinkers among the general public. If there arise a situation where they can express themselves without fearing anyone, they will come forward and there will be great changes.

# He says that there are independent thinkers even among those guardians. When they free themselves from their immaturity, they will lead their people into light.

# Revolution is not a solution for anything. Because through a revolution, what happens is that one kind of despotism/ideology replaces other. True enlightenment of the masses can be and must be attained slowly and carefully. Only freedom is required for this.

# But everywhere there is restriction on freedom. All the authorities say "Do not argue". They want us to obey without questions.

# The public use of one’s reason must always be free, and it alone can bring about enlightenment among men.

# Kant also speaks about the private use of reason, that is, in our day-to-day life. This is not so significant as it doesn't directly affect the general course of history. But for the smooth running of our social institutions, we must obey certain things.
For Example, it would be ruinous for an officer in service to debate about the suitability or utility of a command given to him by his superior; he must obey.

# The priest who must convey the tenets and practices of his church to his churchmen, for he has accepted those tenets to work in such a position.
But as a scholar he is free, and Kant would say compelled, to communicate to the public his own thoughts and also to criticise the practices and tenets of his church.

# The guardians are using the social institutions where they hold power, for example religion and state, to maintain power. They discourage freedom of expression in fear of the loss of their positions. This is very much wrong. Such thinking will act as restraining forces upon free thinking.

# No rules, religious or political, will be accepted and followed for all times. The error factor in everything should be rationally tested. When new and more practical ideas come, we must accept them. This is the mark of enlightenment.

# Because of this Kant states that we do not yet live in an enlightened age, but rather an “age of enlightenment”.

# Kant speaks about a perfect Prince, who will allow his subjects to exercise their freedom of expression. He is referring to the ruler of Germany to gather his goodwill. Under that prince priests can be free thinking scholars and officials enjoy more freedom.

# This guardianship he talked about is seen more prominently in religion. It is also a dangerous area where the lack of proper enlightenment might lead to widespread bloodshed and catastrophe.

# Those who are not ready to come out of this self-imposed immaturity must be allowed to stay like that, because enlightenment cannot be forced upon someone.

# Again he remarks about the Prince who will say, “Argue as much as you will, and about what you will, only obey!”. He is all praises for the monarch who values the right of a man to disagree. But, it is pathetic that he must obey. This is paradoxical.

# A greater degree of civil freedom appears advantageous to the freedom of 'mind of the people', i. e., society as a whole and yet there are  limitations for it. A lower degree of civil freedom, on the contrary, provides the individual's mind with room for each man to think and attain personal enlightenment.