Our Prince of Reason sees things as they are, so hypocrites do not get very far. "(Moliere 49-54) Enlightenment thinkers, wanted to think for themselves, rather than to have the king figure out their problems for them.
While influenced by others the human race is individually minded, and has been able to obtain much knowledge at a substantial rate because of enlightenment. Throughout history man was able to shape the face of the earth by controlling others, but until the age of enlightenment man was not fully aware of the accomplishments he could achieve. In this period the ideals of society having a voice, changed history through bringing light to the genius and talent of not one but the vast majority of the world. To challenge one’s self-worth enlightenment must be achieved through leaving a cowardly stage to become mature. Presently, the enlightenment ideals have given many people around the globe a chance at a free life through natural rights and tolerance,
For centuries, philosophers have provided us with a greater understanding of the world around us, providing suggestions as to how we might reflect upon, criticise, or improve the societies in which we live. This has allowed us to speculate on many topics, such as politics, ethics, and morality. Among many others, two of the most influential thinkers to this day are Nicolo Machiavelli and Immanuel Kant. Their writings, The Prince and An Answer to the Question “What is Enlightenment?” provide insight as to how societies should be ruled and set up in order for all people within them to be content.
The Enlightenment period (very often called the Age of Reason) which started in the 17th century, put a huge emphasis on reasoning and humans as individuals. At the same time it touched at the core of the life based on faith and tradition. The ideas developed by thinkers of the time strongly affected future intellectual, political and economic development of Western Europe, influencing also the character of modern societies. During the 16th century society faced many turbulence in different parts of Western Europe. Something what started as a dispute over the political and economic issues between king and nobility in England, and resulted in the Civil war, provided a fertile ground for thinkers who first started to question the world around them.
Enlightenment was a time of embracing logic and reasoning whilst rejecting untested beliefs and superstition. This time period occurred from the year 1694 until 1795. During this time writers used their medium of the written word to express their beliefs based on logic while denouncing old-world ideologies . During Enlightenment human nature was often put under scrutiny as thinkers strived to find what qualities resulted in the best possible human. In this piece of writing, the reader will be able to see the opinions of human nature held by three great thinkers from this time period: Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and Daniel Defoe.
In his piece What is Enlightenment Immanuel Kant describes a “Self-incurred. tutelage’ that “lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another”, he exclaims, “Sapere aude [Dare to Know]!” and implores his readers to "Have courage to use [their] own reason!" because “that is the motto of enlightenment”. But he conducted faulty experiments that John Locke in the The Fundamental Constitution of the Carolinas, 1669 “
Kant mentioned that it was difficult for men to become enlightened due to the fact there is always a person of religion and government teaching the people laws of life. If a man didn't want to become enlightened, he would just follow the people who is above him intellectually and lawfully because it is easier that way. For Kant, the importance of being enlightened is for man to use his natural gifts and find his own reasoning of the way of the world. Kant believed a scholar's use of public reasoning gives people a sense of reassurance which gives people to obey because it is a way of reinforcement of rules and law that the scholar presents the public with on a congregations behalf. Public reason is what people follow in order to make the society around them run at ease.
This restriction of freedom allows humans to become lazy and immature which prevents them from becoming Enlightened. Kant argues that once people embrace laziness and immaturity, it becomes difficult to think by one’s self. He believes in the use of two types of reason, the public and private use of reason. He claims that the public use of reason alone can bring mankind into Enlightenment because it is this reasoning that allows groups of people with similar thoughts and criticisms to take a stance on a specific issue and bring it to the attention of the king.
The definition of Enlightenment has been debated ever since the creation of the term; it was difficult for contemporaries to define ‘Enlightenment ‘, so much so that in 1783 the Berlin magazine Berlinische Monattsschrift, set up a prize competition for the best answer to the question ‘What is Enlightenment?’ In the December 1784 publication, the German philosopher Immanuel Kant responded to the question with his now famous essay entitled 'Was ist Aufklärung?' ('What is Enlightenment?'). For Kant, Enlightenment was mankind's final coming of age, the emancipation of the human consciousness from the shackles of superstition and self-incurred tutelage; he epitomises this process with the Latin phrase “sapere aude” (dare to know).
Topic:- The Critical Study of Kant’s Doctrine of Right. Introduction: What is Right? A right is the sovereignty to act without the permission of others.
The philosophy of Enlightenment has been most famously summarised in Immanuel Kant's essay, “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” Kant's answer in 1784 to the question what is Enlightenment? Is that it is a “human being's emergence from his self-incurred tutelage” which is the inability to use one's own understanding without direction from another.” The immaturity is self-incurred when it is caused not by lack of mental capacity but by the lack of resolution. Kant urges each of us to refuse to remain under tutelage of others. In Kant's opinion, we must think and decide for ourselves.
“You either accept the enlightenment and remain within the tradition of its rationalism or else you criticize the Enlightenment and then try to escape from its principles of rationality” In my personal opinion both of these essays and their authors have their strong points, I personally believe that I side more with Kants views in his essay about freedom and autonomy. People should be able to stand up for themselves and have a strong presence in politics, government, and religion. Our country should not be run behind the peoples backs, we should be able to have a voice in any political matters that could possibly pertain or effect society as a whole. Human beings need to be able to effectively make change in society.
Immanuel Kant’s moral theory differs greatly from the other theories we have learned about, especially Mill’s view of utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is based on the consequences of actions, while Kantian Ethics focuses on the intentions a person has before they act, and if they are fulfilling their duty as a person when acting. Kant explains his theory by providing examples of different people who are all doing the same action, but for different reasons. He discusses a store owner who charges everyone equal prices and explains that this only has moral worth if he is acting from duty, meaning he does this because it is what is right. The act is not moral if he acts in accordance with duty, or because he is worried about his reputation or business.
As a society continues to allow more freedom, it becomes more of an enlightened age, Kant describes that when obstacles have been removed the individuals and society were enlightened free to pursue, self-determination and
(Dare to know!) as the motto of the Enlightenment, ended up criticizing the Enlightenment confidence on the power of reason.
