Hi everyone. My name is Saqib and I am a sophmore majoring in finance. I am from Queens and have been living here my entire life. Basketball is one of my passions and it was of my favorite sports to watch as a kid. I was on my high school’s basketball team my sophmore and junior year, and it became a huge part of my life. However, in January 2014, I was hit by a car during a late night run and could not play anymore. This forced me to take a break and not play basketball seriously anymore. Despite this, I still play recreationally at my local gym.

According to Immanuel Kant, the Enlightment is the process in which one rids themselves of immaturity. Immaturity, as Kant defines, “is the inability to use one’s own understanding without the guidance of another” (Enlightment 1). He is saying that society is too reliant on one another and lacks the courage to use their own knowledge and judgement to make their own educated decisions. Although this definition is straightforward, achieving it is not at all. He argues that mankind struggles to achieve enlightenment because it has become almost second nature of mankind to rely on others. He also states that ‘laziness and cowardice’ are two traits that plague us as a society from realizing enlightenment. It is extremely easy and convenient to follow another person’s lead instead of using one’s own judgement. For example Kant explains, “I need not think as long as I can pay” (Enlightenment 1). Through this he is saying that as long as one has guidance and supports or follows it, he or she does not need to make their own decisions.

Despite us constantly evolving as a society, I believe we still have a long way to go before we can truly identify ourselves as enlightened. From a young age we are taught to take advantage of things given to us. When things are not given to us we often struggle, and in some cases completely refuse to do what we should. Additionally, peer pressure is still relevant and influences many people as they do things solely because people around them are doing it. Although Kant wrote this article in 1784, his arguments still hold merit as we still have not achieved enlightenment as a society.