Abstract
In 1784, Immanuel Kant wrote an essay entitled: “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?” (German: “Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?”). The initial paragraph of Kant’s essay defined a lack of enlightenment as existing when people failed to think for themselves, not because of a lack of intellect, but rather due to a lack of courage. Kant’s essay addressed the reasons for a lack of enlightenment and the preconditions necessary to make it possible for people to enlighten themselves. He argued that all religious and state dogmatism and paternalism would need to be abolished and people given the freedom to use their intellect before enlightenment could be said to exist. Of course, Kant’s essay does not constitute a full description of the “Enlightenment”, which is a much broader term, encompassing social, political, cultural and economic transformations that began in Europe in the eighteenth century and which have arguably determined who we are, what we think, and how we act today.