Immanuel Kant: What Is Enlightenment? Essay

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Enlightenment is the ability of a man to step out of immaturity. It mostly happens when an external force does not cause immaturity. Immaturity occurs when an individual is unable to understand a phenomenon without guidance. Immaturity is a circumstance imposed on oneself because it does not lie in the lack of comprehension but the failure to use knowledge without the guidance of another person. Maturity is the courage to use understanding to explain a certain phenomenon. Many people dwell in immaturity long after establishing their ability to come from it due to laziness and cowardice. Others act as their guardians to assist them in coming out of their immaturity.

The capacity of man to pay for any work has led people to dwelling immaturity. It is caused by overreliance since finding someone who can do something for them is very easy. Some physicians determine a person’s diet, people read books for understanding, and some pastors serve as guidance and counseling. With all these and others, people can avoid pressuring themselves to work and explore different phenomena. Immanuel Kant explains that taking steps to maturity is dangerous. The guardians domesticated the animals and made them dumb; for instance, they determined the environment of some animals’ environment so that it would be impossible for them to come out of their comfort zone.

Since an individual is trapped in immaturity, it isn’t easy to work themselves out. Others get used to the fact that they cannot use their understanding because no one allows them to use it. They adapt to rules, formulas, and other aids designed to trap them into permanent immaturity. On the contrary, a few have succeeded in freeing themselves from immaturity’s shackles and cultivating their minds to pursue a secure course. ‘…prejudices, just like the old ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking mass.’ Kant means that people in power might sabotage people’s brains to keep them from enlightenment. It is compared to putting people on a leash in order to control them.

Kant proposes that the public should enlighten itself and allow freedom because enlightenment is inevitable. He states that some are stuck in the yoke of immaturity amongst the guardians. They must assist every person calling to walk out of it. He despises the guardians for attempting to put the rest of the public in the yoke of immaturity. He states that when the public is enlightened, it may force the guardians to remain under the yoke of immaturity, for the public would finally take revenge upon them or their descendants. The public can only gradually enlighten itself with the guardians’ help.

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