Enlightenment
“Man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity” — Kant's famous definition of 1784.
Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without another's guidance; it is self-incurred when its cause is not lack of understanding but lack of courage. Hence the motto: Sapere aude!
Kant distinguishes the public use of reason (as a scholar before the reading public — which must always be free) from its private use (in an office — which may be restricted). He calls his era not an enlightened age, but “an age of enlightenment”.
Where it appears
- Enlightenment
- Life — The critical years
- Timeline
- The End of All Things — Genesis & context
- Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?
- FAQ
- Hoping
- Hope — Hope in history
- Home — Kant in five minutes
- Doing
- Teaching — 1 · What is Enlightenment?
Source: Wikipedia: Enlightenment