What is Enlightenment?

"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.

aibo publishing produces the World Literature series in simple and plain language. The first publications generated a media response across Europe, including in the FAZ and The Times London, and, according to the NZZ, triggered a “culture war”.

Immanuel Kant. For the 300th birthday in plain language.