Immanuel Kant Immaturity

Immanuel Kant was a very influential philosopher within the realm of enlightenment. He was an important scholar in regards to both ethical liberalism and ethics of duty, as well as being the founding father of human rights. Kant believed immaturity was not a question of adequate understanding, but that it was actually self imposed. He believed this because, he saw humans as lazy and cowardly, he saw humans as dependance on others and authorities to direct their lives, and lastly because humans don’t stop to question the norms, truths and authorities, but rather choose to live a life of ignorance and consequentially a life of immaturity. The first reason why Kant does not believe that immaturity does not come from a lack of understanding is

Kant expressed his views on cowardice and laziness in his motto of enlightenment, which was: “Sapere Aude! dare to know” or “ Have courage to use your own understanding!” Kant saw the first step towards maturity as, freedom from the public sphere. This was because there existed a lack of political and ethical liberalism, and he saw emancipation from the influence of the public sphere as the vehicle to achieving those things. He believed that this freedom would lead to a sense of autonomy, which he defined as the “determined will to decide independently of others” or a revolution within (Kant). Kant sees this lack of confidence as more detrimental with time because one does not know what to do even when they have gained their “freedom” as they have been reliant on others for so long due to this laziness. This therefore increases their sense of cowardice, making it a cyclical process of immaturity. Kant explained this phenomenon in saying: “…and if anyone were to throw them off, he would still be uncertain about jumping over the narrowest of trenches because he is unaccustomed to free movement of this kind.” Kant is referring to the “ball and chain” keeping man in constant immaturity, and as one

Kant rather encouraged that each individual should have the ability to question authority instead of following it blindly. Kant expressed this by saying: “Nonetheless, the same citizen does not contravene his civil obligations if, as a learned individual, he publicly voices his thoughts on the impropriety or even injustice of such fiscal measures” (Kant). Kant challenges individuals to question the norms, expectation and habits that have been planted deep into their minds, and to critically analyze why we do such things or expected to preform in certain ways rather than simply going through the motions because that is what is expected of us. Scholar Julian Lowndes echoes this sentiment in writing: “ This is not to say that we should never rely on experts or authorities but rather that we should stand ready to question such authority” (Lowndes). This quote comes in response to Kant’s statement that individuals should enlighten themselves, and it reiterates the fact that sometimes experts and their opinions are necessary, but individuals must too be knowledgable enough to refute their claims if they are untrue or attempting to lead people