Kant was a famous german philosopher, and he was one of the founders of enlightenment. He said that enlightenment is " man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity. " He argues that immaturity is self-inflicted not from lack of understanding but from lack of courage to use one's reason and wisdom; he even cried out, " Dare to be know. " Enlightenment is the project to make the world more of a home for human beings through the use of reason. In paragraph 9 of the article " What is enlightenment? " he said: ((the touchstone of everything that can be concluded as a law for a people lies in the question of whether the people could have imposed such a law on itself. )) It means that they should not just follow the laws because somebody made them. However, if you do the right thing because you know it is correct and by following the law you give yourself, that is a good thing, and it is moral. Although he said it doesn't matter whether you want to be moral or not, the moral law is binding on all of us. You do not need religion to determine that law because what is right and wrong is knowable just by using your intellect. This is a sign of enlightenment, and as Rousseau said, it is a sign of freedom.
Rousseau is the bad conscience of enlightenment. He criticizes enlightenment; he said that art and science cover up our oppression, make us forget that we are not free, and make us love our slavery. He also mentioned that art and science do not promote knowledge and understanding; they promote tyranny, cruelty and inequality. Art and science create new needs, new forms of dependence. For him, these are a form of dishonour, not progress. In his first discourse, "Discourse on the arts and science", he also said that civilization and science do not improve people; instead, they cause a destructive influence on the morality of human beings. He argued that individuals had been excellent and happy, but when people arose from their pre-social state and joined the society, they became plagued by vice and sin.
He argued in his second discourse, " Discourse on the origins and foundation of inequality", what it would have been like at the beginning of history, the period that he called " the state of nature". He said people in that period could easily understand their own minds and have essential features of a happy life. He said by enlightenment, you are promoting inequality taste for luxury, the demands which lead people to dishonesty. In another word, enlightenment is the slippery slope of modernity. We are getting further away from who we naturally should be, who we are by nature. The state of nature was moral, pity and empathy for their suffering happen in nature, and it becomes perverted in society. He stated that as you require luxuries, you become vulnerable to pain because we habituated to them. He said civilization had wakened in people an unhealthy form of self-love like pride and jealousy. Man becomes civilized by comparing himself to others because of his perfectibility by copying the others. He said all the above sentences cause inequality that wealthy people cause them.
Kant and Rousseau define enlightenment differently, but in some aspects, their definition was the same, and they were both famous persons in the concept of enlightenment.
Kant was a
famous
german
philosopher, and he was one of the founders of
enlightenment
. He said that
enlightenment
is
"
man
's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
"
He argues that immaturity is self-inflicted not from lack of understanding
but
from lack of courage to
use
one's reason and wisdom; he even cried out,
"
Dare to be
know
.
"
Enlightenment
is the project to
make
the world more of a home for human beings through the
use
of reason. In paragraph 9 of the article
"
What is
enlightenment
?
"
he
said: ((the touchstone of everything that can
be concluded
as a
law
for a
people
lies
in
the question of whether
the
people
could have imposed such a
law
on itself.
)
) It means that they should not
just
follow the
laws
because
somebody made them.
However
, if you do the right thing
because
you know it is correct and by following the
law
you give yourself,
that is
a
good
thing, and it is
moral
. Although he said it doesn't matter whether you want to be
moral
or not, the
moral
law
is binding on all of us. You do not need religion to determine that
law
because
what is right and
wrong
is knowable
just
by using your intellect. This is a
sign
of
enlightenment
, and as Rousseau said, it is a
sign
of freedom.
Rousseau is the
bad
conscience of
enlightenment
. He criticizes
enlightenment
; he said that
art
and
science
cover up our oppression,
make
us forget that we are not free, and
make
us
love
our slavery. He
also
mentioned that
art
and
science
do not promote knowledge and understanding; they promote tyranny, cruelty and
inequality
.
Art
and
science
create new needs, new forms of dependence. For him, these are a form of
dishonour
, not progress. In his
first
discourse
,
"
Discourse on the
arts
and science
"
, he
also
said that civilization and
science
do not
improve
people
;
instead
, they cause a destructive influence on the morality of human beings. He argued that individuals had been excellent and happy,
but
when
people
arose from their
pre-social
state and
joined
the society, they became plagued by vice and sin.
He argued in his second
discourse
,
"
Discourse
on the origins and foundation of inequality
"
, what it would have been like at the beginning of history, the period that he called
"
the state of nature
"
.
He
said
people
in that period could
easily
understand their
own
minds and have essential features of a happy life.
He
said by
enlightenment
, you are promoting
inequality
taste for luxury, the demands which lead
people
to dishonesty. In another word,
enlightenment
is the slippery slope of modernity. We are getting
further
away from
who
we
naturally
should be, who we are by
nature
. The state of
nature
was
moral
, pity and empathy for their suffering happen in
nature
, and it becomes perverted in society. He stated that as you require luxuries, you become vulnerable to pain
because
we habituated to them. He said civilization had wakened in
people
an unhealthy form of self-
love
like pride and jealousy.
Man
becomes civilized by comparing himself to others
because
of his perfectibility by copying the others. He said all the above sentences cause
inequality
that wealthy
people
cause them.
Kant and Rousseau define
enlightenment
differently
,
but
in
some
aspects, their definition was the same, and they were both
famous
persons in the concept of
enlightenment
.