Maturity, Freedom of Thought and Emancipation — on Kant’s What Is Enlightenment?

Schulting, Dennis

doi:10.22034/jpiut.2024.18255

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Dennis Schulting

Independent Scholar, University of Warwick, UK.

https://doi.org/10.22034/jpiut.2024.18255

Abstract

In this essay, I want to address two main aspects of the arguably central topic of Kant's treatise on Enlightenment, namely maturity: these concern the notion of the freedom of thought (Section I) and the idea of emancipation that is conveyed by maturity, the fact that it involves a process of growing up to become a citizen (Section II). Freedom of thought denotes the idea of self-agency which all human beings possess in principle whereas emancipation points to the fact that maturity is something that is not a matter of course, neither in individual cases nor for society at large. Maturity is not a natural disposition that one either possesses or not but must be developed. This means that not all human beings are de facto mature always, everywhere and all of the time. That this situation is not something that is in principle unalterable can be demonstrated by way of assessing Kant's apparent views on women's presumable minority 'according to sex'.

Keywords

References

Abbrivations

AA = Kant’s Gesammelte Schriften (De Gruyter, 1900), followed by volume and page number(s).

A/B = A and B edition of the Critique of Pure Reason (Kant, 1998).

Anthropology = Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View, in Kant (2007).

Aufklärung = An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? in Kant (1994, 1999).

Orientieren = What Does It Mean to Orient Oneself in Thinking? in Kant (2001b).

Refl. = Reflexionen

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Günther, K. & Volkmann, U. (eds). (2022). Freiheit oder Leben? Das Abwegungsproblem der Zukunft Suhrkamp.

Kant, I. (1994). Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung? in I. Kant, Was ist Aufklärung? Aufsätze zur Geschichte und Philosophie, pp. 55–61, Edited by J. Zehbe, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht.

Kant, I. (1998). Critique of Pure Reason, Edited by P. Guyer & A. Wood, Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (1999). Practical Philosophy, Edited by M. Gregor, Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (2001a). Critique of the Power of Judgment, Edited by P. Guyer, Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (2001b). Religion and Rational Theology, Edited by A. Wood & G. di Giovanni, Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (2007). Anthropology, History, and Education, Edited by G. Zöller & R. Louden, Cambridge University Press.

Kant, I. (2012). Lectures on Anthropology, Edited by A. Wood & R. Louden, Cambridge University Press.

Klemme, H. (2023). Die Selbsterhaltung der Vernunft. Kant und die Modernität seines Denkens, Klostermann.

Mendelssohn, M. (1994). Über die Frage: was heißt aufklären? in I. Kant, Was ist Aufklärung? Aufsätze zur Geschichte und Philosophie, pp. 129–32, Edited by J. Zehbe, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht).

Schulting, D. (ms.). Vaccination, Autonomy, and ‘Moral Recklessness.’

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Journal of Philosophical Investigations

Maturity, Freedom of Thought and Emancipation — on Kant’s What Is Enlightenment?

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Volume 18, Issue 47 - Serial Number 47
articles
Special issue: Kant's Philosophy in the 21st Century
August 2024
Pages 281-302

Maturity, Freedom of Thought and Emancipation — on Kant’s What Is Enlightenment?

References

References

Send comment about this article

Volume 18, Issue 47 - Serial Number 47 articlesSpecial issue: Kant's Philosophy in the 21st CenturyAugust 2024Pages 281-302

Volume 18, Issue 47 - Serial Number 47
articles
Special issue: Kant's Philosophy in the 21st Century
August 2024
Pages 281-302