Close Reading Post, Uncategorized, Weekly Post-Check-In #3

Freedom ≠ Enlightenment

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In his essay “An answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?”, Immanuel Kant writes “For this enlightenment,however, nothing is required but freedom… ” He goes on to elaborate that the type of freedom he is referring to is the freedom to use one’s own reason. Enlightenment, according to Kant is defined as being able to think for yourself and use your own understanding instead of relying on the orders from others.

However,  in the example of Frederick Douglass we see that the  enlightenment cannot be achieved without the essential tool that is education. Without an education, Douglass would have not been able to see through the misconception other colored people believed that they were required by God to obey their masters: “I have met many religious colored people, at the south, who are under the delusion that God requires them to submit to slavery, and to wear their chains with meekness and humility. (Chapter 6 “A change Came O’er the Spirit of My Dream”).”

The education provided to him in the beginning by Mrs. Hugh and from his own pursuit in the matter is the true ingredient that led to his enlightenment. If we were to use the criterion used by Kant to determine how enlightenment could be achieved, Frederick Douglass would never have been able to reach enlightenment because he was not allowed to “make public use of one’s own freedom (Kant).” Frederick Douglass even admits it in chapter 11 of My Bondage and My Freedom that it is because of his education that he can truly start to think for himself:

“The more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest slavery, and my enslavers…Knowledge had come; light had penetrated the moral dungeon where i dwelt…”

At this point, he is not longer just obeying the norms and laws of the land, he is challenging them and using his own reasoning instead of that imposed on him by his masters and white men. It was not through freedom to publicly use one’s own reason since he was a slave; but through education that Douglass was able t reach enlightenment.

Close Reading Post, Weekly Post-Check-In #3

One Must Learn to Live On His/Her Own Before Becoming “Free”

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In Kant’s What is Enlightenment, he starts off by saying “Enlightenment is the human being’s emergence from his self-incurred minority (Kant 1784).” What I believe he means here is that enlightenment is a form of slavery. Not like regular slavery but rather slavery of the mind. One isn’t free to think; one is told what to think. He says, “Have courage to make use of your own understanding! Is thus the motto of enlightenment (Kant 1784).”

He then states that “It is so comfortable to be a minor!(Kant 1784)” which he alludes to slavery as well. As a minor there are no worries since you have others to rely on and don’t need to do anything on your own.

 

He then speaks about enlightenment itself saying that it can be achieved slowly but most people cant make the transition to all the sudden have to think and do on their own, and thus will ultimately find another authority to govern over their thoughts and actions. We see this when Kant says, “Now this danger is not in fact so great, for by a few falls they would eventually learn to walk; but an example of this kind makes them timid and usually frightens the, away from further attempt (Kant 1784).” Kant’s belief that people need knowledge to overcome slavery is an agreement with Frederick Douglass. In “The Narrative of Frederick Douglass” it says, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. Now,” said he, “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.” This was said by Mr. Auld, whom Frederick was living with, telling his wife not to teach a slave how to read. From this Frederick finally “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom.” Frederick thought that if he just knew how to read, he would be free. This idea does NOT concur with what Kant said in What is Enlightenment, since he says that people need to first get over the hump of relying on others or else they will just go serve someone else. It is a process that ends with knowledge according to Kant but that is not the sole basis for freedom.

Peer Response Post

Reaching a Point of Enlightenment

This post is in response to Eric Chan’s post, which can be found here.

I agree with everything you stated in your post. You first mention Kant’s belief in reaching enlightenment once one is free. In his writing he states that it’s difficult “for any single individual to extricate himself from the minority has almost become nature to him.” Meaning that it’s hard to pull yourself away from following others’ thoughts since you’ve grown used to it. However, “nothing is required but freedom” in order to reach enlightenment. Freedom leads to curiosity and allows you to think beyond your boarders. This also goes along with Rousseau’s belief. He believed in “freedom, not power (Rousseau, 5).” He allows Emile to roam freely away from the rest of the world and anyone else’s authority like teachers. This allows Emile to “use his own reason and not that of others (Rousseau, 22).” When you are bound by anything, it hold’s one back from reaching “enlightenment.”

In Frederick Douglass’ case, he was bound from the very beginning. He was separated from his mother when he was just an infant and was put “under the care of an old woman (Douglass, 1)” until he were strong enough to start working. When you’re a slave, you’re under the authority of another. You don’t have the choice to learn or go to school. However, Douglass was given the opportunity to receive some type of education through one of his master’s wife, Mrs. Auld when he moved to Baltimore, where slaves were treated slightly better than those where he came from. She “commenced to teach [him] the A, B, C (Douglass 6)” and “assisted [him] in learning to spell words of three or four letters (6).” Unfortunately, this stopped because of Mr. Auld; he believed “it would forever unfit him to be a slave (Douglass, 6).” The anger that grew inside Douglass pushed him to move beyond what he learned and finally “understood the pathway from slavery to freedom (Douglass, 6).” He later was able to “succeed in learning to read and write (Douglass, 7)” without a “regular teacher.” As Douglass slowly gained some type of freedom, he expanded more on what he already knew, on his own. Eventually, he was able to “escape from slavery” and the authority of a master.

Kant believed that enlightenment could only be achieved once you are free and capable of making use of one’s own understanding “without direction from another (Kant, 1).” This is also expressed in Frederick Douglass’ writing. While he was under the authority of masters, he couldn’t make use of his knowledge. However, up until he reached freedom, he was able to learn more on his own and eventually reached a point of “enlightenment” where he was able to use his own understanding without someone binding him.

Close Reading Post, Rousseau

The Schools and Their Value

In the eleventh chapter of Frankenstein, the monster begins reflecting on his earliest days of existence.  He talks about his discoveries, and everything that he taught himself amidst those early days of confusion and loneliness.  In relation to Emile, the basics of survival that the monster learns come from the school of nature, making decisions based on the torments of “hunger and thirst”.   His learning through experience proves to be incredibly important.  He lives and thrives off of instinct, and only upon encountering humans and their disgust towards does he learn from the school of man.  Again, he learns from the school of man; language, communication, guilt, once he begins observing the cottage and its inhabitants, proving that “all that we need when we come to man’s estate, is the gift of education” (Part One).   This part of the monsters education is vital if he is to be able to function in the realm of man.

Rousseau puts a great deal of emphasis on the school of nature.  In chapter twelve however, when the monster begins feeling lonely, sad, and isolated, it seems that the school and realm of man is the most valuable to him.  The school of nature, no matter how useful, will never teach him the benefits of social interaction and human relationships.

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THESIS #1

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Most of us go to school for education, we are learning the same knowledge, taking the same exam, getting a same degree, but we all become different people. Because we are not only learning what school was teaching us.  As Rousseau stated that learning can be also from daily life, people around you. And Frankenstein showed us how he didn’t go to school for education but also learned how to survive from his own experience.

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Life as a Slave

Both The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass and My Bondage and My Freedom, portray the life of Fredrick Douglass during the time of slavery. Although one was published in 1845, and the other 1855, many parts of the texts are similar and many are different as well. One moment in Douglass’ life that was quite significant was when he was being removed from his plantation and relocated to another. Douglass was owned under Col. Edward Lloyd’s plantation and Douglas considered himself a part of the family. In the text My Bondage and Freedom, Douglass narrates the moment with a lot of emotion. “MY HOME – the only home I ever had; I loved it, and all connected with it” (Douglass, 2.) Douglas really loved his first home in Lloyd’s plantation and was emotional about leaving it. The plantation meant a lot to Douglass because although he was a slave, he still tried to make most out of his cabin life. He also says “Where else in the world could such a well be found, and where could such another home be met with.” (Douglass, 2.) Douglass worries that he will never find such a great home as his first plantation. In the other text The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, the moment of Douglass’ removal from the plantation isn’t as emotional as the other text. In fact, Douglass was kind of happy to leave from the plantation. “Going to live in Baltimore laid the foundation, and opened the gateway, to all my subsequent prosperity. (Douglass, Narrative 5.) Douglass believed that he would find better opportunities after being relocated to Baltimore. Douglass also felt that he was unlucky in a way. He says “I was chosen from among them all. (Douglass, Narrative 5.) Although, opportunities would await him at Baltimore, Douglass didn’t feel quite right about going.

 

The effect of the changes from the first narrative is basically to get different viewpoints of Douglass on his life during slavery. Douglass pretty much lived his entire life as a slave, and it’s interesting to hear different accounts of how he liked and disliked parts of his slavery life. Douglass made these particular changes in the way he tells the story because the stories are different in some ways. The Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglass stays a bit away from the emotional side whereas My Bondage and My Freedom shows a lot of emotion and senses in the narration. Nonetheless, both narratives depict Douglass’ experience as a slave but may take different approaches on different moments of his life.

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Knowledge=Freedom

Frederick Douglass is a slave in which he lacked education and knowledge. Nevertheless, even though he was a slave that did not stop him from learning how to read. Slavery prohibits people from improving themselves through education. Ms. Auld taught him the basics such as the alphabet. His learning process was stopped because of Mr. Auld. “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell….Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. If you teach that nigger how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave” (Douglass, 6). Douglass realized that knowledge=freedom. “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass, 6). “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” (Douglass, 5) Douglass did whatever he could in order to learn more. He even became friends with the local little white boys on the street so they could teach him. He took any opportunity possible to learn how to read and write.

With all this new knowledge, it was helping him get closer to freedom. Knowledge doesn’t lead to freedom straight away but it helps strengthen one’s thoughts. The more knowledge that Douglass gained the more he realized how injustice and corrupted slavery was and that he should be viewed as a man rather than a slave. Slaves were not even considered as humans. “The thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (Douglass, 7). The more knowledge he obtained, the more he realized how inhumane being a slave was. 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.”  This made him realize that the best way to get away from being a slave was to escape and become free. He eventually escaped and used the knowledge and experiences he gained to help others escape. This can be related back to the monster in Frankenstein. After the monster learns basic knowledge, he feels even more miserable about his situation because he knows what people were saying and what they thought about him.

Douglass story emphasizes that you can be enlightened if you are free to think and make decisions on your own and not be afraid of the decisions you make. Education isn’t an essential part of living however it does help with understanding experiences. Slaves were deprived from having an education because slaves weren’t considered to be humans. The essay written by Immanuel Kant was about enlightenment and what he thinks about it. He portrays enlightenment as using your own understanding and not being dependent on what most people think about something. Kant believes that in order for enlightenment to be accomplished there has to be freedom to make your own decisions and to think for yourself. It is essential to have the freedom to think and question every situation and knowledge.

There are many aspects that are necessary in making a thinking individual such as education, enlightenment and freedom. I believe that not having freedom doesn’t stop one from gaining knowledge or experience. It may restrict them from a lot of thinks but it doesn’t stop knowledge. Knowledge is gained through anything even common sense.

 

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Freedom

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.

Peer Response Post

Enlightenment and Slavery

This is in response to Farzana’s post that can be found here.

I agree with her for the most part, but I would also like to expand on her ideas.

She says that it isn’t true that “to encourage enlightenment you only need freedom” because you need education to think and education and slavery do not go hand in hand. But I think there is some truth to Kant’s words – when one believes that he is free, he has the ability to become enlightened, for there have been no restrictions placed on his mind. Sure, the thoughts formed without proper education will probably not be too well-thought out, but that does not mean that there would not be some kind of inner truth to these thoughts. Douglass writes in chapter 1 of his My Bondage and My Freedom: “It was a long time before I knew myself to be a slave. I knew many other things before I knew that.” This quote shows how much enlightenment Douglass was given while he believed he was free. Despite only being a child, the freedom to think for and educate himself, to learn new things that may not necessarily have been academic accomplishments, was still unrestricted before he came to know of his status. Children find it so easy to find the creativity in inner truth, because they have not yet been exposed to the darkness of it. While he was blissfully ignorant, he was free to believe and learn what he wanted, free to be enlightened.

But after he learned of his slavery, he still continued to grow educated, reading a book he found or turning the little white boys he met on the street into teachers. However, his enlightenment and education had to be kept within himself, for he lacked the freedom to spread it and discuss what he had learned with the public. Douglass suffered while holding this in, writing that he had “envied his fellow-slaves for their stupidity…often wished [him]self a beast….Any thing, no matter what, to get rid of thinking!” (The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter 7). This agrees to what Farzana is saying – that Douglass’ narrative expresses the idea that education is essentially futile if you are not free to use it.

In all, I believe that education, enlightenment, and freedom are all necessities for the truly thinking individual. However, I still think it is possible for one to be enlightened by using whatever resources he has been given – even if that does not include education – to find some degree of inner truth within himself. Being retained from freedom does not necessarily stop the other two from being achieved, but the ability to spread them is what is truly captured.

Free post, Weekly Post-Check-In #3

Knowledge is the Path to Freedom

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After reading Frederick Douglass’ autobiographies, I admire him for all the hardwork he went through to obtain knowledge which eventually led to his freedom. Douglass had no knowledge, and obtained it through education and his experiences.

Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in 1817 or 1818. Just like any other slave, he lacked education and knowledge. However his status as a slave did not stop him from asking his mistress, Sophia Auld, to teach him how to read. Mrs. Auld taught Douglass the ABC’s and to spell a few words. His learning process is interrupted by his master, Mr. Auld. His master said, “If you give a nigger an inch, he will take an ell. A nigger should know nothing but to obey his master—to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best nigger in the world. (Douglass 6).” Mr. Auld also said, “if you teach that nigger (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave” (Douglass 6). It is through the words of Mr. Auld that Douglass realized that he must seek knowledge to pursue freedom, “From that moment, I understood the pathway from slavery to freedom” (Douglass 6). Douglass was enlightened. Mr Auld was right about what he said because Frederick Douglass wanted the “ell” since his mistress gave him the “inch.” Douglass made friends with little white boys on the street so they could teach him how to read in exchange for bread–“bread of knowledge” (Douglass 7). Douglass had also learned how to write at the Durgin and Bailey’s ship-yard. Douglass took any opportunity he could to learn how to read and write despite the method. Douglass being able to educate himself was the start to his freedom. This is his way of achieving enlightenment.

Knowledge doesn’t automatically lead to freedom, rather it awakens and sparks. The more knowledge Douglass obtained, “the thought of being a slave for life began to bear heavily upon my heart” (Douglass 7). Knowledge made him realize how injustice slavery was and that he should be viewed as a man rather than a slave. Hatred for his master also emerged in Douglass, “the more I read, the more I was led to abhor and detest my enslavers” (Douglass 7). As Douglass and his knowledge grew, so did his discontentment of Douglass slave status. This ultimately led to his decision to escape slavery and become free. Douglass successfully escaped and used his knowledge and experience to obtain freedom for all slaves.

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