“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.