Immanuel Kant's Voice For Enlightenment

Immanuel Kant serves as the voice for the Enlightenment period. He was a university professor in East Prussia. “What is Enlightenment?” is one of his most important pieces. He defines enlightenment as, “…man’s release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man’s inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another.” One must gain the ability to release themselves from what they have been taught to do, to gain enlightenment. According to Kant, the society in which we live teaches us to obey without question. He gives three prime examples of to explain this. The three major institutions he has problems with are the officers/police, the government, and the church. For instance, we are taught to never argue with the police,
so we continue to listen. To the government we continue to pay taxes. And to the church, we continue to believe, and never argue. He wants people to ponder and question these instances. Enlightenment is being able to look at these daily occurrences and attempt to find a reason for it. The Enlightenment period fights these institutions and encourages a mindset based on reasoning.