Kant's Impact on Enlightenment Thought and Reason

Kant and the Enlightenment

Why Kant is an Enlightenment Philosopher

• Kant embodies most of the features generally outlined in the previous paragraphs on the Enlightenment, directly related to the concerns illustrated.
• His Critique of Pure Reason is one of the most significant human attempts to prove that critical reason is the sole source of all human knowledge, being the main characteristic of man and his progress.
• Kant's philosophy is instantly recognizable in the priority given to reason as the supreme power and the only court that can dictate the truth. His judgments are subject to themes of religion, progress, society, morality, man, freedom, law, and, above all, one's duty to reason as the sole judge of all.
• Kant was consistent with the primacy of the scientific method for natural knowledge, which is derived from his work to produce a clear division between science and metaphysics.
• Kant shared most of the ideals of the Enlightenment. Although he never left his hometown of Königsberg, he kept up to date with all relevant world events.

Kant's Divergence from Enlightenment Thought

However, one element separates Kant from the rest of the Enlightenment: although he critiques metaphysics and its claims, he never attacks faith and beliefs, on which he believes the possibility of morality in humans mainly relies.

Kant's "What is Enlightenment?"

In his "Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?", Kant states, among other things, that the Enlightenment "is the emergence from minority." What does he mean by this expression?

"Minority" refers to being guided by the directions of others. One is not guilty for lacking the understanding or skills to fend for oneself, but rather because it is much easier, more convenient, and simpler not to think for oneself and to be swayed by the opinions of others.

This new method suits metaphysics because it deals with the conditions that make experience possible. Our a priori knowledge cannot go beyond experience, leaving us in total ignorance of the thing in itself. All knowledge refers to phenomena, and things are unknown if human reason is pushed beyond the limits of experience due to the unconditional desire to know everything.

The task of the critique of pure speculative reason is to transform the method used so far by metaphysics and to make a revolution similar to that achieved in mathematics and physics. Therefore, it must measure its capacity in relation to the objects of thought. It should be noted that nothing can be added to the model that brings objects outside the knower, and where reason is the driving force of the principles of knowledge.

Criticism may never regret eliminating the abuse of dogmatism, the battle of schools, and other erroneous beliefs since it shows that God, the soul, and freedom do not reach or influence public opinions.