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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
In the first sentence of his famous essay “What is Enlightenment?” Kant tells us that it is “man's release from his self-incurred tutelage,” where tutelage is defined as “man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another” (FMM 35, p. 85). He then sums up the motto of enlightenment as “Have courage to use your own reason” or more simply “Think for yourself.” In the essay “What is Orientation in Thinking?” he elaborates:
Thinking for oneself means seeking the supreme touchstone of truth in one's self, i.e., in one's own reason; and the maxim of always thinking for oneself is enlightenment … To make use of one's own reason means nothing more than to ask oneself with regard to everything that is to be assumed whether he finds it practicable to make the ground of the assumption or the rule which follows from the assumption a universal principle for the use of one's reason.
It is clear then that Kant adopts a stern perspective on the use of reason: rather than looking to God or to people in positions of authority, a person seeking to distinguish truth from falsity should consult her own mind.
This does not mean that it is wrong to seek expert advice on subjects like medicine and engineering or that a person must have a valid argument for everything he believes.
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