Enlightenment -Questioning and Just exploring

What is Enlightenment? 

European intellectual movement of the late 17th and 18th centuries emphasizing reason and individualism rather than  tradition. It was heavily influenced by the 17th century philosophers such as Descartes, Locke and Newton and dits prominent exponents include Kant, Goethe, Voltaire , Rousseau and Adam Smith (Source Online definition) 

In the confines of  my  little garden, enlightenment has always been  associated with the person of God, finding God, moving from ‘darkness’ into light, from a state of lost to found-from ignorance to recognising the subject of the I person of self as a creation of a  Higher Being, hence  function as a Being who  journeys through time to fulfil a purpose in life. I’m opposed to modern enlightenment philosophy which places superiority on the independent,  ego of self.

Man is not superior enough to be a total master of  himself. He is dependent on a higher power to do his thing. Although Destiny rules,  man still has to paint the landscape as he walks along, therefore he walks on guided subjectivity. He is required to cultivate fertile grounds to plant his seeds . His harvest then would depend on how, what he planted, how he harvest and how he stores. Man reaps what he sows, the kind of logic.That calls for that specific wisdom to function effectively. Man  do not posses that X-Factor in his own capacity as human and being.. It comes from a Higher Force.

In the eyes of modern philosophy, enlightenment equals reason and clarity in the analysis of the subject (the I) individualism, opposing the traditional lines of authority, and given direction. No  higher light guides , conscience is relegated to the background. God loses his Central position. Self takes over. Rational  reasoning is good but only  if applied correctly and  in the right  dosage. 

 I’m like an explorer, exploring and trying to make sense of  modern  thoughts, trying to understand their logic.  Interesting reading and thoughts, an eye-opener,broadening of the mind,  looking above and over other fields and plains. . I'm fascinated but I'm wondering-  Will /has these new thinking   lead to decay and dehumanization of man as seen by Horkheimer and Theodor ? OR as the philosophers  Kant and Descartes opined,   it is a release from certain obligations, freeing man from dominance to become independent entities , allowing the empowered  I Subjects  to take their own stand? I’m wondering,  did  such thinking and resulting actions, caused the confusion and chaotics of  our modern  world?  J 

  “Lumieres”, in French,  “Aufklaren”  in German and  “illuminismo” in Italian, all denotes light and clearing up -  illuminating , flooding of light in, brightening up a darken place. All of these talk about  clarity and light . An ongoing debate , gathering momentum since the 17th & 18th centure spilling into the 21st century., opening new insights, broadening their scope. Certainly , there are differences between the ideas of the  Now and the  traditional  conceptual definition.. The base words are the same but the meanings differs in aspects, covering larger fields -so does it ring positive or the negative? They even talk of this enlightenment thing as political. Anything political becomes a control and manipulative tool. As I see it. of course!

So would you agree with Jewish Philosopher Moses Mendelssohn that  enlightenment is a process by which man is educated by use of reason??

  Let's get back to Kant again. He  refers to  it as ‘man’s release from his self incurred tutelage. What exactly is tutelage? That refers to Man’s inability to make use of his own understanding without instruction or direction from another, whether it be some authority, belief or faith. It is a rising from the immature state of ignorance to a stage of  human consciousness . It reminds me of Freud mirror image stage, when a child recognises himself or herself in the mirror and become conscious of self.  Enlightenment is this sense becomes a transcend from ignorance  to a state of rational and logical awareness-the coming of age -through reason and consciousness.


 Interestingly, many of these assertions are linked to  Christianity, arising from the claim that man frees himself from the obligations of Christian revelations, and church doctrines to truth therefore are awakened to  take  and make his own stand in his own identity and capacity -freed from the dominance of  another's ideologies.

I'm still wondering -Will this  type of ‘freedom’ and enlightenment lead us back to the dark ages, instead of  forward-towards the light? J 

Know Thyself-From my angle

Richard Shusterman’s questioning  got me thinking. “Know thyself”-Is it a critical warning for mortals to know their place and limitations by acknowledging their inferiority to the gods?

I'm of the contention that humans  without exception are  full of lacking. Feelings of inadequacies , packed with flaws- guilts and fears, filled our lives.  That constitutes to the unpredictability in their behavioural norms and how they act and react. Whether people agree or not, there is a small element of ‘madness’ in each and everyone, . That 'thing'   defies reason and logic, it causes the irrational and irresponsible act, sometimes  against the natural order of things. We do not understand ourselves; we do not know why we did what we did. When that madness passes and sanity returns, remorse sets in. The act of awakening and returning to sanity brings with it light as in call from conscience and yet feelings of confusion and even depression. Complex!

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Imperfection is the trait of mankind. Man is a natural product of sin. They lack wisdom, hence clarity of being..  That feeling of lacking pushes us to strive and search for  self improvement, all the time. Man is a restless animal. They are unable to find peace because they are forever caught in a cross fire between longing, needs and what has been given. They have problems with finding a balance and being grateful for what has been provided.Most times, they suffer from blindness. Somehow, they cannot seem to attain the expected level which brings in total satisfaction. Achievement and attainment always fall short of desire and the cravings for more. Therefore in the happiness of attainment, elements of unhappiness still lurks.  There is the inability to transcends above needy status to contentment and  the level of already have.

I’m looking at the words, ‘acknowledging inferiority to the gods’. That is with a small ‘g’. In my angle of looking, they refer to the  worldly things; we  always feel, we are in need of. We adore them as  ‘gods ‘hence- would go to any lengths to get them, even venturing out of peaceful pastures to the challenges of the wilderness., then suffer the consequences. That is precisely what obstructs man’s elevation to enlightened state, the state where  cravings ceased to exist and peace and contentment takes over.

 Perhaps, philosophers, theorists, religious teachers are correct. When we look up to worldly treasures and obsessively craved for them, placing them above our everything; they becomes our 'gods'. We become their subjects , bound and controlled  by their kingship. We become slaves to negativeness and servants to agents of  self destruction.

To be continued.