If it is now asked, 'Do we presently live in an enlightened age?' the answer is, 'No, but we do live in an age of enlightenment. But on all sides I hear: 'Do not argue!' The officer says, 'Do not argue, drill!' The tax man says, 'Do not argue, pay!' The pastor says, 'Do not argue, believe!'

Nothing is required for this enlightenment, however, except freedom and the freedom in question is the least harmful of all, namely, the freedom to use reason publicly in all matters. Kant’s three Critiques, beginning with the Critique of Pure Reason in 1781, are his best-known works, and they formed a significant part of the foundation for critical. I need not think, if only I can pay: others will readily undertake the irksome work for me. German philosopher Immanuel Kant was a prominent figure of the Enlightenment whose work in such fields as epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics was hugely influential in the development of philosophical thought. If I have a book to serve as my understanding, a pastor to serve as my conscience, a physician to determine my diet for me, and so on, I need not exert myself at all. Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so great a proportion of men, long after nature has released them from alien guidance, nonetheless gladly remain in lifelong immaturity, and why it is so easy for others to establish themselves as their guardians. Sapere Aude! 'Have courage to use your own understanding!'-that is the motto of enlightenment. This immaturity is self-imposed when its cause lies not in lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without guidance from another. Thus, whereas the philosophy of the late Renaissance had been metaphysical and rationalistic, that of the Enlightenment was epistemological and empiricist. Minority is inability to make use of ones own understanding without direction. Immaturity is the inability to use one's understanding without guidance from another. Enlightenment is the human beings emergence from his self-incurred minority. Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.

Immanuel kant enlightenment