What Is Enlightenment?

In 1784, Immanuel Kant answered the question "What is Enlightenment?" in a short, influential essay published by Berlinische Monatsschrift. Defining Enlightenment as "mankind's exit from its self-incurred immaturity," Kant advocated for "the freedom to make a public use of one’s reason in all
matters." He also offered what would become the motto of the Enlightenment — Sapere aude! — "Dare to know!"

Writing two centuries later, Michel Foucault evaluated the same question, albeit looking backward in time instead of forward. Foucault connects Kant's initial response with a subsequent "attitude of modernity", emphasizing a specific relationship to the present-day and "the constitution of self as an autonomous subject."

In this Meetup, we will discuss both essays as well as the central question. Links to the respective texts can be found below:

Kant, What is Enlightenment? [6 pages]
Foucault, What is Enlightenment? [17 pages]
(Optional) Moses Mendelssohn, What is Enlightenment? [4 pages]