This is an old revision of this page, as edited by SineBot (talk | contribs) at 10:23, 16 October 2009 (Signing comment by Makeswell - ""). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
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Enlightenment (concept)
Hey, I noticed you reverted the old page to its original form. I would like to work with you and see that you've done a lot of editing, so we could make the page much better. Right now the page covers topics which are not related to one another and the Talk: Enlightenment (concept) page shows this with a bunch of users saying how the page should be removed or sounds like a half-baked high school project etc. You left no answer to why you reversed the edit anywhere. I'd love to know why so that we can work together.
from merriam webster's online dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enlightenment: "Main Entry: en·light·en·ment Pronunciation: \in-ˈlī-tən-mənt, en-\ Function: noun Date: 1654 1 : the act or means of enlightening : the state of being enlightened 2 capitalized : a philosophic movement of the 18th century marked by a rejection of traditional social, religious, and political ideas and an emphasis on rationalism —used with the 3 Buddhism : a final blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering"
The parts falling under the 2nd definition above, describing the time when the Age of Enlightenment started and then ended obviously need to go on the Age of Enlightenment page if they're not there already. This includes the section titled: Adorno's and Horkheimer's definition of "enlightenment", which is very misleading here as they are talking about the Age of Enlightenment but it's just called Enlightenment. I will move those parts tonight myself.
the next two quotes when used together show clearly what Kant meant by his use of the word enlightenment... from Merriam Webster's Online Dictionary, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enlightened: "Main Entry: enlightened Function: adjective Date: 1652
1 : freed from ignorance and misinformation <an enlightened people> <an enlightened time> 2 : based on full comprehension of the problems involved <issued an enlightened ruling>"
This is from the Enlightenment (concept), page: "In his famous 1782 essay What Is Enlightenment?, Immanuel Kant described it as follows: Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is the incapacity to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. Such tutelage is self-imposed if its cause is not lack of intelligence, but rather a lack of determination and courage to use one's intelligence without being guided by another."
Kant appears to be using the first above definition of 'enlightened', being free from ignorance and false information. Since under (1) from the definition of 'enlightenment', he is referring to a state of being free from ignorance and false ideas. This is much different from the Buddhist use of the word enlightenment, which is under a different section in the m-w definition, and in general is a much different state than just being wise. I think this doesn't warrant a separate page for Kant's idea since he's just saying that to be wise you have to think for yourself, though this might be appropriate on Kant's webpage in wikipedia. If you really want to give Kant his own enlightenment page then be my guest, but Kant is not talking about the same type of enlightenment that occurs amongst religious people, and which happened for Buddha, so his definition should not be on an Enlightenment (religious) page. Same thing with Nietzsche I suppose though I don't see him actually use the word enlightenment anywhere in that quote.
So then I guess that if you just want to have a page on enlightenment as freedom from ignorance and false views then go for it. That would be a very appropriate place for Kant's version of "Enlightenment" and maybe Nietzsche's too.
Alright it's getting very late. I simply left the Enlightenment (concept) page alone for now and re-created the Enlightenment (religious) page. I'm not sure what you want to achieve with the Enlightenment (concept) page, perhaps for just that dictionary definition of seeing clearly or understanding or solving some problem. Anyways, goodnight. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Makeswell (talk • contribs) 10:22, 16 October 2009 (UTC)