What is Enlightenment?: And other writings: "What does it mean: to orient oneself in thinking?" and "About eternal peace." In simple language.
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"Enlightenment is the exit of humans from their self-inflicted dependence."
Immanuel Kant lived in the Age of Enlightenment. The church and the state dictated how people should live and think. Many poets and thinkers rebelled against this. Scientists had already shown the church many mistakes. Poets like Voltaire and thinkers like Rousseau said: people should not believe everything. Then they are not free. They enlightened people about their own power: their intellect and their reason.
Immanuel Kant wrote many great works. Above all the "Critique of Pure Reason". He wanted to "bring the mind to reason". From then on, he was known as the greatest Enlightenment philosopher.
But what exactly is it about? A newspaper called for an answer to this question. Here, Kant gives an answer to this question. Above all, enlightenment means thinking for yourself and having the courage to do so. That has changed everything. We can think and decide without the guidance of others. We are free.
What does it mean: to orient oneself in thinking?
"Faith in reason is like a compass. It helps smart people to think about theory. It also helps normal good people to do the right thing."
"What is Enlightenment?” has shown: You can find your bearings in thinking. You can't be sure whether you are really thinking for yourself. And thinking can go in all directions. In order to orient ourselves correctly, we have reason. It does not only consist of reason. Our feelings also guide us. Whether we are in a dark room, orienting ourselves by the stars or in terms of truth and honesty.
Reason helps us to combat superstition and wrong enthusiasm. It guides our thinking. It gives us the right direction. Nevertheless, we have to be careful. Others can also try to lead us in the name of reason. Then we are no longer free.
About eternal peace
"1. in a peace treaty, no one is allowed to secretly think about the next war.
2. a country may not be inherited, exchanged, bought or given away by another country.
3. the military should stop altogether over time.
4. countries should not get into debt with other countries.
5. no state may use force to interfere in another state.
6. a country at war must not prevent peace later."
There were many wars and revolutions in Kant's time. Kant believed that human reason could end wars forever. He thought about the prerequisites for this. The result is his treatise "On Perpetual Peace". It is intended to establish peace throughout the world. They say it could really work. That is why it is still valid today.
These three texts can be read separately. At the same time, they build on each other. They show Kant's significance from subjective thinking to world politics and into our modern world. Traces of Kant's Enlightenment can be found in many constitutions. The United Nations were founded on the basis of "Perpetual Peace".
These three Kant key texts are reproduced here in plain language. They largely correspond to general standards, and we have also adapted them for easy language. The book is therefore also suitable for readers with limited reading ability (LRS), German as a second language or cognitive impairments. This means that everyone can now understand the most important German thinker.
Immanuel Kant. For the 300th birthday in plain language.
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Immanuel Kant was born on April 22, 1724 in Königsberg on the Baltic Sea. He died there on February 12, 1804.
Kant was the son of a saddler. He became an important German thinker. He taught logic and metaphysics at the university in Königsberg for a long time. His book "Critique of Pure Reason" is very important. It processed the entire old philosophy and founded his Enlightenment on it. He was also known as the "crusher of everything".
Kant stayed in Königsberg all his life. He took the same walk every day, right on time. People said: "You can set your watch by Kant." He only wanted to concentrate on his work. He was never married. Kant allegedly said: "It's like practicing the violin. It takes too much time." He only wanted to practise thinking.
Kant was also often funny. He liked to invite merchants, sailors, soldiers and others for lunch. They told him about the world. The battles for freedom such as the peace between his country Prussia and France, the French and American Revolutions made a great impression on him. Everyone loved him. The whole town and many others came to his funeral.
Kant's philosophy
Kant's work is divided into two parts: Before and after his book "Critique of Pure Reason".
Before that, Kant thought similarly to other thinkers. He called this period "dogmatic slumber". In 1770, his thinking changed. He only worked on a new theory.
In his "quiet time", Kant spent eleven years writing the book "Critique of Pure Reason". By "critique" he means a precise examination. It deals with the prerequisites for cognition. The "Critique of Pure Reason" made him famous. The second "Critique" deals with action. The third "Critique" is about judgment. Kant also wrote about astronomy, religion, law and history.
Kant changed the way we think about knowledge and life. His ideas are still valid today.
For Kant, philosophy has only four questions: What can I know? What should I do? What can I hope for? What is human?
Dr. Patrick Krause (born 1965) is a journalist, author, and publisher.
"Writes like Charlie Parker plays," said Dr. Wolfgang Stock from Econ Verlag.
During his philosophy studies, he worked as a copywriter. After his Ph.D. in 1998, he founded his own publishing company for customer magazines, worked as a journalist, ghostwriter, and creative director, and wrote travel guides and children's books. From 2010, Krause was a culture editor and from 2015, editor-in-chief of the lifestyle travel magazine QVEST. Simultaneously, he completed several therapy and coaching training courses. His openness and diverse interests led Patrick Krause around the world and to well-known interview partners. Often, pure curiosity turns into passion, an idea, and a text. Krause plays drums in workshops with professional musicians and hopes for numerous gigs in his old age.
Andreas Stobbe was born in 1968.
He is a digital entrepreneur and designer.
In the 1990s, he founded his own company during his studies. Since 1996, he has been working in the digital field. In the same year, he founded the company reality bytes. This company became one of the top 50 internet companies in Germany. From 2016, he sold parts of his company to the TWT Digital Agency Group. This group belongs to the Greven Group and the Irene and Sigurd Greven Foundation. Until 2024, he merged his company with other companies, forming TWT Growth, which now has more than 120 employees.
Andreas Stobbe has a son with autism. He is committed to improving learning opportunities for people with disabilities, especially in making world literature accessible to them.