Hi everyone, my name is Lyndsey Rivera and I am currently a sophomore majoring in finance. I was born and raised in the Bronx but currently live in Westchester.

Immanuel Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?” talks about how one should not rely on the guidance and/or opinion of another in order to act for themselves. He defines this as “immaturity”. He also states that this immaturity happens when there is “lack of resolution and courage” as oppose to lack of understanding. He claims that being immature is “convenient” but in a sarcastic tone saying that since we have a book to help understand ourselves reason and position in society, “a spiritual adviser to have a conscience for me” and a doctor to tell you what to do in order to be your best self, its rather easy to fall into that immature thinking. It’s easy to not put in any effort or even think at all if you constantly have someone doing that for you. Once a person thinks this way, it is hard to shake this out of them since it has became more of a habit. When he says this, I automatically thought of a piece I read back in high school called “Plato’s Allegory of the Cave” in which talks about a group of people who are prisoned and while being in prison, are shown through the walls things that they will sooner or later ought to believe are true when in reality they are being blinded into thinking that reality is something that is when its not. Towards the end, when the prisoners are free and realize that what they were taught in the cave is nothing like the REAL world, they can’t accept this “new” reality because they are so used to thinking this way. I also find the usage of the word coward to be repeated, this is because this is another reason for people not being to able to think and stand up for themselves. Kant’s solution to this problem is one word simple, freedom.

In my opinion, I don’t believe we live in an enlightenment era. We are constantly standing up for what we believe is right and if that was the case, living in an enlightenment era, this wouldn’t be so. There are so many movements currently going on such as the Women’s March that took place recently and groups such as BLM (Black Lives Matter) and so many others that just prove that we are not thinking immaturely. We are not afraid to take charge when needed something that in Kant’s era wasn’t seen.