Renaissance and Early Modern Europe

Surname 1 Renaissance and Early Modern Europe Prompt One Question 2: Immanuel Kant on Enlightenment Immanuel Kant (1784) defines enlightenment as "man's release from his immaturity."

Here, man's immaturity is described as the inability of individuals to make use of their understanding without being directed by others. Nonetheless, the immaturity is considered as self-imposed because it does not emanate from a lack of reason and courage, as individuals use it blindly. Therefore, enlightenment places emphasis on the use of courage to reason. By terming enlightenment as “human emancipation from self-incurred immaturity” and Kant thinks this emancipation to be particularly important as far as “religious matters” are concerned. This is because matters of religion are portrayed as the focal point of enlightenment.

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Surname 2 Man’s emergence from such self-incurred immaturity is driven by religion, the position is attributed to the fact that those in power have no interest in assuming the position of guardians over those their rule over when this is looked at from the perspective of the arts and the sciences.

On the other hand, religious immaturity is considered the most pernicious and dishonorable form of all immaturity. Emancipation is considered particularly important as far as religious matters “are concerned because of the errors in religious dogma and church institution. Kant presents the view that regardless of the nature of a religion, it should be entitled to “commit itself by oath to a certain unalterable set of doctrines” (Ferrer and Kant 20).

Kant sees religious toleration as the outcome of emancipation. He argues that humans tend to be bound by the teachings of the church without necessarily considering the available proofs to employ to justify the argument. According to Kant, it is inappropriate to teach a doctrine in which the leader may not fully subscribe, and which contradicts the heart of religion.

The sovereign power of religion should therefore be used to impose unalterable doctrine on the people. He emphasizes the religious immaturity aspect because the church is considered as a political force that guides the behavior of followers through its doctrine. Kant, therefore, warns on the religious doctrine which can be politically binding and which the church can control.

Therefore, people should not subscribe to a doctrine that impairs their reason.

Kant’s view of religious doctrine as misleading and the outcome of emancipation differs from Locke’s in A Letter on Toleration. Locke considers tolerance as a Christian virtue that should be upheld by the state and civic associations (Locke and Shapiro 5). However, Locke seems to back up Kant’s view on refraining from misleading doctrine as he only advocates for the adoption of religious doctrine that affirms civic interests and not spiritual ones.

Prompt Two

Surname 3 Question 1: Francis Bacon's “knowledge is power”.

Francis Bacon is sometimes credited with coining the phrase "knowledge is power", but this is only partly true as that exact form and sense the sentence was first formulated by Thomas Hobbes, who was Bacon's secretary in his early years.

Bacon emphasized the scientific society which was built on experimentation and observation. Nonetheless, one could argue that the ideal society of Bensalem does not look like the embodiment of this principle. According to Bacon, the generosity and enlightenment, the dignity and splendor and public spirit of the people of Bensalem was rather a representation of what Bacon hoped to see, rather than the true manifestation in his society (Bacon 2). Bacon secular used and glorified the power of scientific knowledge as power without considering the extent to which it would serve the interest of the secular state. The state was characterized by a preoccupation with materialism and luxury, and this did not coincide with the heavenly city which was empowered as Bacon had envisioned. Perhaps, Bacon should have considered the ideal city as one which is well-governed to one whereby humans are in a pursuit to understand how they can make the best out of themselves. Bacon had envisioned a society inspired by Solomon’s biblical reputation for wisdom, yet Bensalem possessed Solomon’s natural history, which was based on the understanding of the working of nature.

Further, Bacon’s imagination of the relationship between religion and science in The New Atlantis is essentially foreseen in the limitless ability of man to control their fate through the domination of nature. The technological society that he presents seemingly knows neither death nor disorder, thus it is implied as heaven on earth.

Bacon foresaw a world where a man would be able to manipulate nature you provide endless earthly goods. However, Bacon’s vision of a scientific utopia dominating in the New

Surname 4 Atlantis was only a fantastic dream, but his vision for an empowered society driven by knowledge could be discredited in the latest development in genetics, nanotechnology, and robotics as his argument of human knowledge a the source of power could be termed as conservative from this context (Peltonen 281). The radical transformation of the society is, however, evident in the realization of the magnificent power that can be derived from science and advances in medicine and technology that have led to an empowered society. Indeed, natural sciences offer no guidance on how power should be utilized as man has dominant power over nature.

Works Cited Bacon, Francis. New Atlantis. At the University Press, 1900.

Ferrer, Daniel Fidel, and Immanuel Kant. "Answer the question: What is Enlightenment?"

(2013).

Locke, John, and Ian Shapiro. "A letter concerning toleration." (1998).

Peltonen Markku. "Politics and science: Francis Bacon and the true greatness of states."

Historical Journal (1992): 279-305.