Hey everyone, my name is Anna Christ.  I am currently a sophomore and I am majoring in Accounting.  I transferred here last semester so this is only my second semester here at Baruch.  I live on Long Island where I am a volunteer firefighter in my town.

According to Immanuel Kant, enlightenment is attained when an individual begins to think for oneself and questions why things are done the way they are.  Kant believes for someone to truly be enlightened they must not be influenced by others, referred to as “guardians”.  However, enlightenment is not easy to achieve.  Kant views “laziness and cowardice” as the reasons enlightenment is so difficult to attain.  It is much easier for an individual to follow the footsteps of other people, the “guardians”, and it can be frightening to stray from what everyone else is doing.  What holds an individual back from becoming enlightened is not knowing how to think for oneself; they have never been allowed to think for themselves before and are afraid of failure if they do.  Kant states that there may be some who cannot think for themselves which may hold everyone back from becoming enlightened.  But, the few that do become enlightened can question the “guardians”, and the public can become enlightened slowly.

Based on Kant’s definition, I do not believe we live in an enlightened age.  In today’s society, many of us do not think for ourselves.  We follow the views of the majority because we are afraid of being different and judged by others.  Kant states, “for enlightenment of this kind, all that is needed is freedom.”  We may live in a free country, but our thoughts are not free.  Since we were children we have been taught what is right and what is wrong.  We have not been able to formulate our own opinions; if we stray from what is socially acceptable we are criticized for it.  I think it is close to impossible for an individual in our society to think entirely by oneself without any influence from others.