Immanuel Kent's Enlightenment by Stephen Davis

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Immanuel Kent's idea that the Enlightenment is "mans release from his self-imposed tutelage" which Kent seems to find as one of mans greatest faults, is a point of his that I wholeheartedly believe due to people never being able to grow and learn things on their own without someone metaphorically hovering over their shoulder telling them right from wrong. It is one of mankind's greatest gifts to have the ability to learn on your own and to draw on your own experiences to determine what is right on your own. Coming into the age of enlightenment from an age of feudalism where noble men and women had forgotten this gift in favor of tutors and religious authorities to tell them right from wrong for their entire life's, suddenly reason and individual thought began to be prized as the gifts that they truly are. People now had many different ideas from each other and while some were right and some false, the debate that this sparked led mankind down a path of rapid technological advancements as the peoples ideas became reality. Let me ask you this, if you could have the choice of static agreement, where you simply go along with what you're told for the sake of stability, or the ability to  explore and discover the worlds mysteries for the continued advancement of all mankind regardless of if it would shake the natural balance of things, would you take it?

by Stephen Davis

P.S. I commented on Rebecca Belew and AnnaKate Burleson

Comments

Osten Belew said…
I enjoyed your post and agree with you on the idea that people often have a hard time learning on their own but let me ask you a question. Why is Kant's message relevant if it is true that "Men work themselves gradually out of barbarity if only intentional artifices are not made to hold them in it"?
August 22, 2019 at 2:27 PM
Rachael Gregson said…
I loved that you said that learning isn't just a choice but a gift. As humans, it is very easy for us to take gifts, above anything else, for granted. We were made for so much more in this world than just what's comfortable and familiar. To grow, we will not be comfortable. To grow, we will not feel the familiarity. But aside from this, the reward we will get will be worth doing away with these two things and breaking through. Life is a journey, not a destination. So is our capacity to learn and be enlightened.
August 22, 2019 at 6:59 PM
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