Why We Should Read Immanuel Kant
We live in trying times, which made me think of Isaac Asimov’s classic science fiction series, Foundation Trilogy. The story is set in a distant future where a vast Galactic Empire is in decline and nearing collapse. The inhabitants don’t realize this, of course. A mathematician named Hari Seldon has figured it out using predictive models that blend mathematics, statistics, and psychology.
Seldon gives himself two urgent tasks: (a) determine how to shorten the coming dark ages and the onset of chaos, and (b) curate the galactic knowledge worth preserving. A central theme of the first book, Foundation (1951), is the role of knowledge, science, and cultural continuity in rebuilding civilization after collapse.
For the first task, Seldon assembles a group of scholars and scientists and tasks them with creating the Encyclopedia Galactica, a comprehensive compendium of all human knowledge worth preserving.
This got me thinking. If I were part of Seldon’s team, what would I propose as worth preserving.
If you’ve studied philosophy, you’ve likely encountered some or all of Kant’s magisterial works: Critique of Pure Reason (1781), Critique of Practical Reason (1788), and Critique of Judgment (1790). The first critique explores the nature and boundaries of human knowledge; the second examines the nature and boundaries of ethical reasoning; and the third addresses the nature and boundaries of aesthetic experience and purposiveness.
They are important works, but I would bypass them entirely in favor Kant’s short essay “What is Enlightenment”.
In November 1784, the German periodical Berlinische Monatsschrift invited its readers to respond to the question: Was ist Aufklärung? Kant’s essay, Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?, is his answer. I won’t summarize it or tell you any more about it—that would undermine Kant’s purpose. You should read it and think about it for yourself.