Essay On Enlightenment
True maturity of a man did not occur from natural aging, but through making self-decisions, derived from their own understandings. Those understandings occur when free movement is released. However, it involves with uncertainties and doubts one must go through. There are times when people try to step over these uncertainties through bravery, but only few are successful at breaking the chains of fixed philosophies.
Immanuel Kant’s question ‘What is Enlightenment?’ proposed the answer by evaluating the true definition hidden underneath freedom, and linked it with human maturity by foretelling how progression of humanity would be developed based on freedom. Kant was successful in foreshadowing that human advancement will be immensely affected …show more content…
“Thus a public can only attain enlightenment slowly. Perhaps a revolution can overthrow autocratic despotism and profiteering or power-grabbing oppression, but it can never truly reform a manner of thinking; instead, new prejudices, just like the old ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking mass” (36). Kant prophesied that enlightenment will cause waves in bourgeoisie class, and it was possible through revolutions and changes that the world went over. As an illustration, a great example of the transformation could be shown from the changes of political view in France. That is, when revolution was sparked by the fierce passions of Frenchmen and issued statement of rights, demanding equality and freedom, among others. King Louis XVI was viewed as villain through the eyes of the revolutionary, where he governed France through monarchy. His rich in the palace of Versailles were seen as tyranny, and his credibility worsened as the people of French starved from scarcity. “the kernel gradually reacts on a people’s mentality, and it finally even influences the principles of government, which finds that it can profit by treating men, who are now more than machines, in accord with their dignity” (42). As Kant’s prediction, the First French Republic was formed and aimed for a better government and the desire for equality. They
Immanuel Kant’s question ‘What is Enlightenment?’ proposed the answer by evaluating the true definition hidden underneath freedom, and linked it with human maturity by foretelling how progression of humanity would be developed based on freedom. Kant was successful in foreshadowing that human advancement will be immensely affected …show more content…
“Thus a public can only attain enlightenment slowly. Perhaps a revolution can overthrow autocratic despotism and profiteering or power-grabbing oppression, but it can never truly reform a manner of thinking; instead, new prejudices, just like the old ones they replace, will serve as a leash for the great unthinking mass” (36). Kant prophesied that enlightenment will cause waves in bourgeoisie class, and it was possible through revolutions and changes that the world went over. As an illustration, a great example of the transformation could be shown from the changes of political view in France. That is, when revolution was sparked by the fierce passions of Frenchmen and issued statement of rights, demanding equality and freedom, among others. King Louis XVI was viewed as villain through the eyes of the revolutionary, where he governed France through monarchy. His rich in the palace of Versailles were seen as tyranny, and his credibility worsened as the people of French starved from scarcity. “the kernel gradually reacts on a people’s mentality, and it finally even influences the principles of government, which finds that it can profit by treating men, who are now more than machines, in accord with their dignity” (42). As Kant’s prediction, the First French Republic was formed and aimed for a better government and the desire for equality. They