And now a little something about the man behind the work, Immanuel Kant

Kant at a certain point asks if we at present live in an enlightened age, to which he answers “No, but we do line in an age of enlightenment.” Had to read that twice to understand what he said there. However the first question that popped up in my head was WHEN was this written, for Kant is certainly not a modern day philosopher. My question lead me to the answer of 1784, so what he’s saying is that although the people of the time are not YET enlightened, they are on their way.

Why he sees the world in this way at that time I couldn’t really figure out, as I don’t know much about German history. A factor that would of course play into why he would say such a thing. However I do know that 1784 is when the Treaty of Paris was ratified, making America it’s own nation.

That event in and of itself is worth mentioning with this, as it’s a country that fought back against Great Britain which was the strongest nation on earth at the time and  won.

“But to renounce such enlightenment completely, whether for his own person or even more so for later generations, means violating and trampling underfoot the sacred rights of mankind”

This brings to my mind in the book “1984” by George Orwell, and the scene of which the whole plan, and end goal of thought crime is revealed. Where the whole world for the most part is participating in. Which if you haven’t read before is actually quite a genius concept, where every continent is at a constant state of war. However a war of which where every country involved is neither loosing nor winning, thus always keeping a mindset of nationalism in the country. Of course however people are bright so eventually one would figure that such a war is pointless. However that’s where thought crime comes in, and doublethink. Doublethink a language that promotes no thought whatsoever with no grey area in the language. Thought crime being a system in the novel where your very brain is being monitored.

Before I go any deeper into the explanation of the grand scheme of “1984” it should be said that Kant also says that “preventing all further enlightenment of mankind for ever, is absolutely null and void.” Of course the novel 1984 is of fiction, but in it I would say George Orwell did a fantastic job of making a society and world that manages to do just that.

However in reality, the way the world is today I cant picture something just halting all human enlightenment.

“Thus the use which someone employed at a teacher makes of his reason in the presence of his congregation is purely private, since a congregation, however large it is, is never any more than a domestic gathering. In view of this, he is not and cannot be free as a priest, since he is acting on a commission imposed from outside.”

Words I can agree with, for with most jobs that you are being paid on a salary would not let you do what you please, of course within reasonable confines of the job description. In particular being say a public high school teacher in the state of New York for history. The state puts forth regents so that you have to make a curriculum to follow. With that comes the fact that you can’t just preach religion because of separation of church and state. the public school system being a part of the state.

“Thus it would be very harmful if an officer receiving an order from his superiors were to quibble openly, while on duty, about the appropriateness or usefulness of the order in question” Above is a long scene that I thought of from the only cartoon/ anime I watch on a weekly basis named “Attack on Titan” that shows just that. 

“For enlightenment of this kind, all that is needed is freedom. And the freedom in question is the most innocuous form of all—freedom to make public use of one’s reason in all matters.”

Slow and steady wins the race:

Following the last post, Kant goes to say that a public can only achieve enlightenment slowly for when it is too rapid, a lot of times things go wrong. This brings to mind the character Cypher from the Matrix, who arguably couldn’t handle the truth (enlightenment) and what comes with it is big side effects.

“There is more chance of an entire public enlightening itself. This is indeed almost inevitable, if only the public concerned is left in freedom. For there will always be a few who think for themselves, even among those appointed as guardians of the common mass” This brings to mind just about every extremely notable person that brought about change because of the unique way they thought. Too many to list. However Kant also goes to say that some of these people can revert back to non innovative people as they get strong enough to force others to think in a close minded way. Such an example would be most dictators. When fighting for whatever they believe, they preach very innovative change, and then when finally in power, although change comes often what comes with it is a period of stagnation.

“Thus only a few, by cultivating their own minds, have succeeded in freeing themselves from immaturity and in continuing boldly on their way.”

“Dogmas and formulas, those mechanical instruments for rational use (or rather misuse) of his natural endowments, are the ball and chain of his permanent immaturity.” Here Kant is referring to how when people are given something to them they’re whole lives, and are comfortable with it, it leads to no innovation. Which makes me think of the Apple Iphone. I dont hate apple, nor am I an Android fanboy, but all it takes is observation to see how comfortably Apple has been sitting on the phone. Although slowly loosing market share to Android.