Shannon Jones
HUM 3242 Final Paper
Enlightenment is the concept of being able to use one’s own reason, without influence, to
arrive at their own destination in thought. This idea of using one’s reason is reflected in Kant’s
‘What is Enlightenment?’ where he uses the phrase Sapere aude, meaning -- have courage to use
your own reason – as the motto of the Enlightenment (Kant 1784/1995). The process of
enlightenment should not be limited to only one race, sex, religion, or area and an enlightened
person shall realize this. Free-thinking is part of the concept of enlightenment as well and for
someone to have free thought it must be knowledge formed by one’s own mind using their logic,
or reason, as mentioned above. For someone to be completely enlightened they must be able to
block out any thought that may be formed from outside influence such as society, authority or
previous teachings. In the process of enlightenment, one should also question any previously
taught philosophies, theories, or even what might be an understood truth. Francis Bacon uses the
concept of idols to explain the previous teachings and natures which hold man back from being
enlightened; “The idols and false notions which are now in possession of the human
understanding…not only beset men’s minds that truth can hardly find entrance, but even after
entrance obtained, they will again…meet and trouble us, unless men being forewarned of the
danger fortify themselves as far as may be against their assaults” (Bacon 1620/1995). These
‘idols’ represent the foundations in human nature, the individual idols we all carry (how we view
things personally), the idols we obtain from conversations and associations with others, and the
societal ‘dogmas’ or ‘wrong laws’ which we receive (Bacon 1620/1995).
Some may argue that these types of definitions of enlightenment are too vague and don’t
address the various contexts in which enlightenment can apply such as race, religion, geography,
social and economic statuses. And while it is true that the above explanation of what
enlightenment is, is simple and does not delve too deeply into any specifics, I feel that if it were
to address specific cases then it would begin to infringe upon the meaning of being enlightened.
Meaning that, by explaining enlightenment using too many specifics it would be telling the
reader how to think of said subject. For example, explaining enlightenment in regards to religion
one would say that the religious follower must question the religious texts and teachings and
evaluate whether they think they are reasonable. Oftentimes religions contain accounts of
miraculous occurrences and the followers must accept these occurrences as truth and use faith to
believe. Explaining how to be enlightened to a truly religious person could be construed as
undermining their beliefs.
In today’s world I do not feel that as a society we are enlightened nor do I feel that we
have ever been completely enlightened. This is not necessarily a negative thing, however, I feel
that for society’s to function there cannot be a fully enlightened society. Laws and regulations
must be set and followed for civilizations and societies to exist in a mostly peaceful state, and
have been needed for this purpose throughout history. Being citizens of a state is an
enlightenment idea and in today’s society, western society at least, it gives us the opportunity to
be enlightened to a point but at the same time takes away some freedoms, through laws and
regulations, that would keep us from being completely enlightened. This is not completely
negative, as I said before, because not every person in society arrives at the same reason as
others and this can and is detrimental at times to society. Well-known examples of this type of
detriment include the Boston marathon bombings and the Aurora, CO shootings, where those
responsible found in their reason to harm others and defy the laws set for them, an example of
being enlightened, and this caused tragedy.
Education in society is a necessary thing as well and as we progress through school we
are shaped as citizens and taught ways to think and look at things. I do feel however that as we
progress through higher education we are more enlightened, we are given more knowledge as
well as freedom in how we decide to learn and how we develop opinions about the things we
learn. Education gives us the platforms to build upon the knowledge that we have already been
taught and to the enlightenment definition, we should not base our reason off previous teachings.
This is almost impossible to do because academia is built upon the teachings and findings of the
many before us and without that knowledge perhaps humankind could not advance.
Even in the era deemed ‘The Enlightenment’ I do not feel that societies were fully
enlightened. The critiques with The Enlightenment on how the thinkers were often racist and
sexist are valid. Many enlightenment thinkers were not recognizing the ability for all mankind to
be able to use their reason and in Hume’s essay ‘Negroes…Naturally Inferior to the Whites’ he
even says “There was never a civilized nation of any other complexion than white” (Hume
1742/1995), and this shows the lack of reach in the enlightenment thinking.
Enlightenment is a difficult concept to achieve, and is not necessarily a positive thing in
entirety. I do not feel that everyone using their own freedom and reason will result in a properly,
peacefully functioning society and therefore I feel that the fact that enlightenment has not and is
not being achieved today is a natural and safe thing.
Works Cited
Bacon, Francis (1995). The New Science. In I. Kramnick (Ed.) The Portable Enlightenment
Reader. New York. Penguin Books. (Original work published 1620)
Hume, David (1995). Negroes…Naturally Inferior to the Whites. In I. Kramnick (Ed.) The
Portable Enlightenment Reader. New York. Penguin Books. (Original work published
1742)
Kant, Immanuel (1995). What is Enlightenment? In I. Kramnick (Ed.) The Portable
Enlightenment Reader. New York. Penguin Books. (Original work published 1784)