Q0255
“Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.” — Immanuel Kant (What is Enlightenment?)
Verified English quotation. Primary source: What is Enlightenment?. Theme: autonomy.
English
Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity.
Source and attribution
The archive attributes this English wording to What is Enlightenment? and files it under German Idealism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
About Immanuel Kant
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) spent nearly his entire life in Königsberg, rising from tutor to professor at the university there. After early scientific and metaphysical essays, the Critique of Pure Reason (1781/1787) launched his “critical” philosophy.
Interpretation
Kant's definition turns on the adjective "self-incurred." Immaturity is the inability to think without another's guidance, and he holds that its cause is not a defect of understanding but a failure of resolve — people prefer the safety of being guided. This is why the remedy he proposes in the same essay is courage rather than instruction. The definition thus makes enlightenment a matter of will, available to anyone who will accept its risks.
Why it matters
The diagnosis is pointed: if the cause is resolve rather than capacity, then the obstacle is precisely the comfort of letting someone else decide.
Concepts in this quote
- Autonomy
- Autonomy appears in this archive as a live philosophical concern—not a slogan. These verified English passages show how thinkers treat autonomy as a problem of judgment, practice, or explanation.
- Reason
- Reason is the capacity to give and assess reasons—central to logic, science, ethics, and public argument.
How to cite this quotation
APA: Immanuel Kant. (n.d.). Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. In Philosophy Blind Box. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0255
MLA: Immanuel Kant. “Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his….” Philosophy Blind Box, https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0255.
Chicago: Immanuel Kant. “Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his….” Philosophy Blind Box. Accessed 2026. https://www.philosophydef.com/quotes/q0255.
Frequently asked questions
What is the source of the quotation “Enlightenment is the human being's emergence from his…”?
The passage is attributed to Immanuel Kant, What is Enlightenment?. The archive attributes this English wording to What is Enlightenment? and files it under German Idealism. That locator distinguishes the passage from loose internet attributions: readers can return to the named work or section to check translation, surrounding argument, and edition-specific wording.
What does Immanuel Kant mean by autonomy?
Across 4 recurring voices here (notably Seneca and Mary Wollstonecraft), autonomy is framed through Stoicism and Feminist Philosophy. Some passages define autonomy; others warn how it fails; still others relocate it inside habit, community, or language. This passage enters that discussion through autonomy, reason.