In “What is Enlightenment?” by Immanuel Kant and The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass, a concurring importance of freedom in one’s development being expressed heavily.

In answering the question “What is Enlightenment?”, Kant addresses “For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom, and indeed the least harmful of anything that could even be called freedom: namely, freedom to make public use of one’s reason in all matters” (par.5). He thinks reason is essential to reach enlightenment. According to Kant, an individual should be able to practice his reason freely to the public. He gives the example of “as a scholar, who by his writings speaks to the public in the strict sense, that is, the world”. For the society to reach enlightenment, our government should allow reason in the public sphere. I see this as freedom of speech like what we have today.

During Frederick Douglass’s life as a slave, freedom of speech is far from approachable. Slavery prevents people from improving themselves through education. I relate this to Karl Marx’s theory of species-being, the process of transforming inorganic matter to create things is the core identity of the human being. He works towards making himself free by expanding his horizons though self-education. He says “When I was sent of errands, I always took my book with me, and by going one part of my errand quickly, I found time to get a lesson before my return”(ch.7, par.4); “my copy-book was the board fence, brick wall, and pavement”; (ch.7, par.8)“I used to spend the time in writing in the spaces left in Master Thomas’s copy-book, copying what he had written”(ch.7, par.8). His education gives him the strength of will to escape. He says that learning how to read “had given me a view of my wretched condition, without the remedy. It opened my eyes to the horrible pit, but to no ladder upon which to get out.” The monster in Frankenstein has a similar encounter. After he learns letters, he feel even more miserable about his situation.