Enlightenment Immanuel Kant Analysis

In Immanuel Kant’s writing, “What is Enlightenment?” he describes the subject of his writing, “enlightenment,” as “man’s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” In other words, enlightenment refers to the journey a person, or a community, undergoes to use one’s own knowledge, or “understanding,” confidently without the help of another individual. Throughout his writing, he explains the necessity and circumstances for an enlightenment and briefly explains situations where there is a lack of enlightenment. In the fifth paragraph, Kant asks the question, “… which sort of restriction prevents enlightenment, and which, instead of hindering it, can actually promote it?” The question is significant because it realizes the impact of restrictions in a community being enlightened.

On the final day of the camp, the staff of the camp would organize an “Amazing Race” type challenge where each troop would run all over camp undergoing challenges in the shortest time possible. I was the leader, so I chose four of the fastest scouts to be on the team. When the race began, we maintained a fair pace, but soon came to a halt when we reached the swimming challenge. While I was thinking of a plan, I insisted that nobody talk. The scouts I had chosen were quite loud and would get off task very quickly. As I was thinking, one of my scouts, Terry, tried to tell me something, but I was too focused to listen to him. By the time I devised a plan, all of the other four scouts were in the water following Terry’s instructions. Terry had gone against my rules in order to get the task done. If Kant were to be next to me, observing the situation, he would have said that my restrictions prevented enlightenment. Terry had a better understanding of the problem and rejected my restrictions in order to accomplish the goal. If he were to accept my restriction, we would have finished the race later and increase our odds of