Notes on "What is enlightenment?" by Immanuel Kant 1784

Notes on "What is enlightenment?" by Immanuel Kant 1784

The Art of Art History : A Critical Anthology
Oxford History of Art
Author: Preziosi, Donald
Publication: Oxford ; New York Oxford University Press (UK), 1998.

Immanuel Kant, 'What is Enlightenment?' from Kant Selections, Beck and Lewis White (eds), Macmillan Inc, New York © 1988, reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey

Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! 'Have courage to use your own reason!'—that is the motto of enlightenment.

For this enlightenment, however, nothing is required but freedom, and indeed the most harmless among all the things to which that term can properly be applied.

The touchstone of everything that can be concluded as a law for a people lies is the question whether the people could have imposed such a law on itself.

A greater degree of civil freedom appears advantageous to the freedom of mind of the people, and yet it places inescapable limitations upon it; a lower degree of civil freedom, on the contrary, provides the mind with room for each man to extend himself to his full capacity. As nature has uncovered from under this hard shell the seed for which she most tenderly cares—the propensity and vocation to free thinking—this gradually works back upon the character of the people, who thereby gradually become capable of managing freedom; finally, it affects the principles of government, which finds it to its advantage to treat men, who are now more than machines, in accordance with their dignity.*

Comments
What Kant emphasizes is the independence of subject. He advocates that individuals should dear to use their own reason when they are making judgment, rather not refer to authority. Meanwhile, Kant criticizes the oppression upon people's freedom of expression. He points that for the enlightenment, nothing is required but freedom. In short wards, enlightenment is a demand for people to use their reason freely without oppression from the authority. It is the project that was practiced by the western society. Whether did the project sketched by Kant succeed eventually? In one hand, Harbemas asserts that it is an incomplete project which need more efforts to be achieved. In the other hand, Lyotard claims that the project of enlightenment failed finally and further more we need to fight against the command of the totality which is the substantial characteristic of enlightenment.
However, what I see is the non balance of the enlightenment between different countries. Actually, the time is an age when the demand of enlightenment and postmodernism are fixed together. The project of enlightenment is not completed, that is, the subject has not been built up in some countries meanwhile the negative effect of modernity has become very apparent in some areas, which would have same effect on those countries that are in process of enlightenment. Therefore, we should notice that fact that some part of the world are facing the double commission of enlightenment and postmodernism. Obviously, the project in those regions would be more difficult and complicated.