Ruth Jean-Lubin

One of the many propositions given by Immanuel Kant about the notion of enlightenment is that the only tool necessary to gain enlightenment is freedom (106). Although at first I agreed with this statement, the deeper I thought about it I realized that this statement cannot be completely true. I say this because in my opinion there is not really a complete level of freedom that one can achieve. For example, America claims to have religious freedom, however this is not truly a complete freedom due to the fact that there are still restrictions both the government and society places on that “freedom.” For example, the beliefs of Christianity cannot be taught in public education in the United States while other historical religions and beliefs are allowed to be taught. An example of societal restrictions is that it is looked down upon to seek about one’s belief in God to those who do not believe. This shows that we can’t reach the public freedom that Kant describes in his reply to “what is enlightenment?” If one cannot truly say what they want where they want then how can we achieve the “freedom to make public use of one’s reason at every point” which Kant says is a requirement to gain enlightenment. Therefore, freedom cannot be the main requirement for one to obtain in order to begin their enlightenment process. Instead I would say that realizing the people or things that have influence over you and your thoughts would be the main requirement to becoming enlightened.