Scan barcode
A review by theaurochs
An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? by Immanuel Kant
4.0
An interesting collection of essays that are all engaging and interesting, although it would have been nice to have more of a central theme to tie them together. As it stands, we have the titular essay on the nature of enlightenment, a deep look at the nature of peace and the relation between states, and a look at whether mankind can be said to be improving or declining over time.
While I don’t always agree with Kant’s lines of thinking or conclusions, they are all clearly and concisely argued, and easy to read and follow along with. His definition of enlightenment boils down to “the freedom to use your own reason”; to have the knowledge and intelligence to make informed decisions, and the courage to act on those decisions on your own behalf. It’s a nice ideal and a fair definition on an individual level, and Kant does a good job of scaling it up to nation-states as well, and how they might be enlightened. Some of it is difficult to read in a modern light without thinking of the extremes to which these ideas have been taken: would Kant have been a red-piller? Often it makes sense to bow to the reason of those who are more knowledgeable than yourself. Possibly some anti-vaxxers have taken the wrong spirit from the message of Kant.
The examination of the idea of peace was surprisingly interesting, with a nuanced look at relationships between nation-states and how power imbalances and natural suspicions can lead to inevitable conflict. Fascinating examination that seems to predict a significant number of conflicts in the 20th century- although this may be just a good display of the truth of his theories!
The final essay is possibly the strangest; an examination of whether mankind is getting better or worse, morally, over time. It attempts to answer this by taking a bizarrely literal interpretation of the biblical genesis story. It’s definitely an interesting read, but comes across as massively apologetic for Christianity, and as such has to do some strange mental gymnastics to try and make sense. I feel like, based on the arguments Kant provides (even in this essay alone), he should have been able to step back and say- “right this is clearly nonsense”; but I realise this neglects quite how ingrained Christianity was to the worldview of the time.
Great little collection of essays, glad to have read it. These Penguin great ideas editions are lovely.
While I don’t always agree with Kant’s lines of thinking or conclusions, they are all clearly and concisely argued, and easy to read and follow along with. His definition of enlightenment boils down to “the freedom to use your own reason”; to have the knowledge and intelligence to make informed decisions, and the courage to act on those decisions on your own behalf. It’s a nice ideal and a fair definition on an individual level, and Kant does a good job of scaling it up to nation-states as well, and how they might be enlightened. Some of it is difficult to read in a modern light without thinking of the extremes to which these ideas have been taken: would Kant have been a red-piller? Often it makes sense to bow to the reason of those who are more knowledgeable than yourself. Possibly some anti-vaxxers have taken the wrong spirit from the message of Kant.
The examination of the idea of peace was surprisingly interesting, with a nuanced look at relationships between nation-states and how power imbalances and natural suspicions can lead to inevitable conflict. Fascinating examination that seems to predict a significant number of conflicts in the 20th century- although this may be just a good display of the truth of his theories!
The final essay is possibly the strangest; an examination of whether mankind is getting better or worse, morally, over time. It attempts to answer this by taking a bizarrely literal interpretation of the biblical genesis story. It’s definitely an interesting read, but comes across as massively apologetic for Christianity, and as such has to do some strange mental gymnastics to try and make sense. I feel like, based on the arguments Kant provides (even in this essay alone), he should have been able to step back and say- “right this is clearly nonsense”; but I realise this neglects quite how ingrained Christianity was to the worldview of the time.
Great little collection of essays, glad to have read it. These Penguin great ideas editions are lovely.