Continuing the Age of Enlightenment -Sydney Snow

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I love Kant's definition of enlightenment: "man's release from his self-incurred tutelage." I know that this essay was written back in the time when the church and government type they used had a great deal of influence, but it still applies to today's world. In our time, we do not have nearly as much influence from the church, but we still have other people and organizations influencing how we live our lives. I am not saying that these groups and people tell us what to do, but that they sway our decisions greatly. I am guilty of always asking other people for their opinions on what they think I should do or what they think my best option is. This is a very common thing amongst teenagers and young adults when they are being thrown into this whirlwind that we all call life. But, at some point, we all have to release ourself from our tutelage. We have to transition into a point where we begin to reason and think for ourselves without the influence of others.

I have so many points that I could talk about from this short paper, but, seeing as this is just a blog post, I am going to limit myself. What has really stuck with me every time I have read this paper is  Kant's answer to this question: "Do we now live in an enlightened age?" As we all know,  he responds with "no, but we do live in an age of enlightenment." I agree with that statement 100 percent. I believe we still live in an age of enlightenment. Although we study the enlightenment period in English classes, and talk about it in the past tense, I believe the age/period is still in progress. Everyday people are becoming more enlightened. More things are being learned. More people are beginning to reason and think on their own for the first time. How can something that is still continuing to happen be over? I'm eager to know what you guys think.

I commented on Jamie's and AnnaKate's posts.

Comments

Clabo said…
You are so right. Everyone wants the approval of others in some way or another, and even if they claim that they don't care what others say, they are still affected by the influences and voices of those around them. I really liked your point that we are still living in an age of enlightenment. There will always be knowledge and understanding to be gained, and there will always be more ways people people can grow to understand this thing called life. In response to your question (I think you are talking about the age of reason, correct me if I'm wrong), I don't think that process of people becoming more enlightened and growing in reason is over, but maybe it is that the designated time period of that area where new ideas and philosophies came to be ended. I don't think the enlightening ever stopped, but the period of the enlightenment has.
August 23, 2019 at 10:53 PM
Breanna Poole said…
I absolutely loved your blog post! I wrote about nearly the exact same thing (with one or two differences), and I have to agree with your statement that we are living in an Age of Enlightenment. None of us can truly claim to be completely enlightened, it will be human nature to always ask someone for their direction or advice, even if we normally can manage on our own. We live in a world that is always calling out to us for one reason or another, and often times it can be hard to ignore the forces that yell, so we can't ever truly be rid of all outside influence in our lives. I would argue that the Age of Enlightenment never truly ended, but mere changed form as the world around it changed as different ideas and controversies took hold.
August 26, 2019 at 7:15 PM
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