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Immanuel Kant And The Age Of Enlightenment

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Immanuel Kant was a German philosopher, who was also one of the central figures of The Age of Enlightenment and the founders of modern philosophy. In the 1780s, when the Enlightenment was being openly discussed in the public sphere, especially in Kant's Prussia, Kant responded to Berlin Monthly with an essay elaborating on what constituted the Enlightenment. According to Foucault, periodicals in the eighteenth century chose to question the public on problems that did not have solutions yet1. "What is Enlightenment?" is a major work because it presents the questions and analysis of its age; namely, the structural changes that were happening to the European society, its response to increasing information being publicized (mainly …show more content…

In the eighteenth century Europe, there was an abundance of places where people could get together and discuss the issues of their time such as the coffeehouses, gentlemen clubs or masonic lodges, hence a perfect environment for the action of what Kant calls "the public use of reason". Moreover, the revolutions happening everywhere in the European science, politics and society made way to the consciousness of the modern civilization. The article is also historically important for that Kant was able to flourish and spread his ideas because, according to him, he was living in the most tolerant society in Europe of that time, the Prussia of the Fredrik the Great, who Kant confirms as having alleviated many hindrances to enlightenment of his …show more content…

These relations may have changed significantly since the Age of Reason, but it seems to be coming back. While there is a positive feeling to Kant's article, as he implies that the Enlightenment will eventually find its way into all minds of the society, the picture we face in the post-modern age is certainly not positive, even a reversal of what was happening in Kant's time. It could be right to say that Kant was a harbinger of the good future, but now it is only

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