The notion of public debate in Kant’s “What is Enlightenment?”

Laziness and cowardice are the reasons why so many people like to remain underage throughout their lives and why it is so easy for others to pose for their guardians. It is so convenient to be of age. "If I have a book that is reasonable for me, a pastor who has a conscience for me, a doctor who judges a diet for me, etc., then I don't have to make an effort myself."

This was written by Immanuel Kant in 1774 in his essay "Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?". If you read it today, you might think that the problem has been solved. Which author, pastor, or doctor can count on being followed blindly? On the contrary. Everyone who does a job honestly, let's say: an engineer, claims to understand more about it than laypersons. But if he goes to the doctor, he explains to him, using reading fruits from an Internet forum, what blood pressure is, and what he helps against. Isn't that "the exit of man from his self-inflicted immaturity", as the famous first sentence in Kant's article says? "Immaturity is the inability to use one's mind without the guidance of another," it continues.

 In our day, however, we seem to be dealing with the inability to accept the mind or reason of another at all much more often. This is particularly evident in politics. In all democratic countries, selfies like Thilo Sarrazin, Boris Johnson, and Donald Trump have succeeded in driving destructive, ultimately violent patterns far into the so-called middle of society.

 The causes are not so easy to pin down, because all the trends that come together can be traced back over a considerable period of time. A fundamentally critical to derogatory attitude towards politics and administration, in general, the elites, has been common for decades. Superficial, often radical judgments that do not stand up to scrutiny are increasingly being cast without hesitation. So it can not fail to appear that sovereigns and MPs are no longer shown the appreciation they certainly deserve in this country. Surveys confirm that many people now think they can do their demanding jobs better.

 So, if you will, we have reached a state of perfect maturity. If one defines maturity as participation in the public conversation, it has also been enormously advanced technologically. Since the invention of book printing, ever newer circles have given ever-larger circles the opportunity to articulate themselves publicly until finally the network has allowed everyone to be their own publicist.

 Kant was aware of the fundamental problem. His essay was published under the conditions of censorship. The Prussian King Frederick II had graciously allowed freedom of expression as an "enlightened" ruler, but excluded state affairs. Private individuals were forbidden to make "reproachful judgments" about the court and gentlemen or even to spread the news. Reason among other things: "A private person is also not able to assess them because they lack complete knowledge of the circumstances and motives." So the doctor could also confront the engineer - or the engineer the doctor, depending on who currently acts as a specialist or a layperson. But that is no longer possible here and today.

 In Kant's time, however, criticism of censorship was already subject to censorship. He then formulated it in his text on enlightenment so that he could get away with it - and created the concept of enlightened debate, an essential basis of our democracy. Simply opening your mouth is not enough. Maturity has nothing to do with the mouth, the word is deceptive. It comes from the old high German "Munt", a legal term that referred to the rule of a man over woman, children, and servants. This later became the “guardian”. Responsibility means that a person is fully responsible for their actions. And that also applies to public speaking.

There are rules of the game that aim at peaceful agreement. They demand to weigh pros and cons, to bow to the better argument, and not to wantonly to stop thinking at the point where the comfort of the ego zone ends with self-inflicted immaturity. Kant calls this the "expanded way of thinking". He describes what is important in this way: "Not to deal with the whole world in one's own self, but to consider and behave as a mere world citizen".

Brussels, 22nd May 2020

Dr Hubert Silly

Dr Hubert Silly

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