When it comes to the word "enlightenment", the first thing we think of must be17-18th century, an unprecedented and far-reaching enlightenment movement-the second ideological emancipation movement after the Renaissance. At that time, what we learned about enlightenment was limited to "light", while advanced thinkers at that time thought that people were still in darkness. They wrote books, actively criticized absolutism, religious ignorance and feudal privileges, and publicized freedom, equality and democracy. And the spirit of "enlightenment" is also the spirit of "rationality". During the Renaissance, people's perceptual desires fought for legal status, and the "rationalism" of the Enlightenment showed a new look of "rationality" with the help of Luther's religious reform against external dogmatic authority. The fracture between "rationality" and external authority forms its own internal authority, that is, "rationality" and "freedom" are the same. After reading the book What is Enlightenment by Kant, an enlightenment thinker, I have a deeper understanding of the word enlightenment.

First of all, Kant raised the question of enlightenment with articles. But I know from the materials that this is not the first time that philosophical thoughts have tried to reflect on themselves in history. There have been three forms of reflection in history. The first is that the present can be expressed as a specific era belonging to this world, the second is to try to interpret the foreshadowing signs of an upcoming event from the present, and the third is to analyze that the present is a turning point facing the dawn of the new world. In Kant's What is Enlightenment, the problem of enlightenment is introduced in a new way. It is neither the world era to which a person belongs, nor the event from which various signs can be observed, nor the beginning of some achievement. Kant defined enlightenment in an almost completely qualitative way and regarded it as an "exit" and a "way out". He only discussed the problems about the present, but did not want to understand the present on the basis of some integrity or ultimate goal. What he is looking for is some kind of difference: what kind of difference will today lead to compared with yesterday?

Secondly, the emergence of the Enlightenment is not accidental, but conditional. The changes it has brought to human beings have made human beings become real people. Kant believes that when a person plays a certain role or does a certain job in society, he is regarded as a special link in society; As a result, he found himself in a limited position and had to adopt specific rules and seek specific purposes. Kant said so, asking them to adapt to these regulations when using their own rationality; In other words, reason must be subordinate to the specific purpose under consideration. At this point, we can say that reason cannot be used freely. another

On the other hand, when a person uses rationality only for the purpose of using his own rationality, when he is a living body with the ability to use rationality and a member of human beings with the ability to use rationality, then the use of rationality must be free and open. Therefore, enlightenment is not just a process in which individuals realize that their freedom of thought is guaranteed. When the universal, free and open applications of reason are superimposed on each other, enlightenment appears.

In addition, Kant pointed out that the characteristics of enlightenment are the "way out" and the process of liberating us from the "immature" state. He summed up his so-called "way out" as a phenomenon and a continuous process, but also expressed it as a task. What he said "immaturity" refers to the specific state of our will, which is manifested as "not thinking, only obeying orders". This state makes us accept the guidance of others' authority in the field where we need to use rationality. In his view, this form of thinking is usually used in military discipline, political power and religious authority. Humans want to reach maturity, not when they are no longer required to obey, but when they are told to "obey, but think freely with reason". At the same time, people are also responsible for their immature state. In this way, we can infer that only by changing ourselves can people get rid of this immature state; He also pointed out that in any case, it is the change of existing relationship that links will, authority and rational use, thus defining enlightenment. When Kant talked about "enlightenment", he emphasized using his own understanding-a function of reason-to understand the world, rather than relying solely on the guidance of "the other". The spirit of "enlightenment" is an independent spirit of "no desire, no demand" and "other" guidance. In this way, Kant linked his concept of enlightenment with the traditional slogan of the Enlightenment-"Dare to know", which is an optional slogan of this Enlightenment: now this slogan has become a symbol, that is, a feature that people can recognize each other according to it; It is also a proverb, a teaching that people can use to warn themselves and advise others. Teaching is to dare to know, to have the courage and determination to know. Therefore, we should not only understand enlightenment as a process of human collective participation, but also as an individual's behavior under the call of courage. Man is not only a part of the process, but also an actor in the same process. They participate in this process, so they are actors in the process, and the process must take place on the premise that people decide to become their voluntary actors.

Finally, in my opinion, Kant described the Enlightenment as a turning point in history. At this point, human beings began to use their own rationality and did not yield to any authority. Now, it is at this turning point that we need to criticize, because the task of criticism is to determine the preconditions for fair use, so as to determine what we can know, what we must do and what we may hope, and only when we clearly define the appropriate fate.

Only by applying the principle of rationality can we ensure the self-discipline of rationality. In a sense, it critically records the track of rationality gradually maturing in enlightenment; On the other hand, enlightenment is a critical era.

About Kant's enlightenment, I think it can be summarized as three points. First of all, enlightenment, as a series of political, economic, social, institutional and cultural events that we still rely on today, constitutes a priority area for analysis; Secondly, enlightenment is a cause that directly links the progress of truth with the history of freedom, and constructs a philosophical problem that we are still thinking about; Finally, it defines a specific philosophical way of thinking. In the past two centuries, Kant's reflection has always been a philosophical way of thinking without losing its importance or effectiveness. Of course, we can't regard the critical ontology about ourselves as a theory or a teaching method, or even an eternal knowledge system that keeps accumulating, but should understand it as an attitude, a spiritual temperament and a philosophical life. In this attitude, spiritual temperament or philosophical life, the criticism of what we are has also become a historical investigation of the boundaries imposed on us and an experiment on the possibility of crossing these boundaries.

Regarding Kant's What is Enlightenment, I want to say: I don't know whether we can reach adulthood in a mature state and bravely use our own reason, as Kant said. But in any case, in my opinion, Kant's critical questioning of the present and ourselves through his reflection on enlightenment has its own significance, which can encourage and guide us to use our reason accurately in study and practice. Enlightenment is a process of continuous development, which needs our constant pursuit and discovery.