Michel Foucault: What is Enlightenment?
Michel Foucault has deeply studied the Theory of Enlightenment by Kant and Theory of Modernity popularized by Philosophers like Hegel, Nietzsche, Max weber, Horkheimer, Habermas. In all this, he has derived the practical approach towards practicing Enlightenment and modernity.
Theory of Enlightenment
17th century German Philosopher Immanuel Kant popularized the theory of ‘Enlightenment’ which became a subject of inquiry upon his critical reflection. Kant is known for bringing a transitional switch to society- from Ancient age to Modernity. He has inquired into the depths of Modern philosophy where very few had its reach. In all this process, Kant successfully revealed practical life goals of modern era.
Quick view of Kant’s Enlightenment:
Enlightenment is erasing immaturity out of human beings. Immaturity is defined as following other’s authority rather one’s conscience. The dropping up of authority is possible by using self-thought reasons.
- Immaturity is throwing away laziness by being courageous.
“If I have a book to have understanding in place of me, a spiritual advisor to have a conscience for me, and a doctor to judge diet for me, and so I need not make any efforts at all.”
Hence, laziness will turn natural. - In search of ease, the act of immaturity turns convenient and people just avoid getting out of it.
- It’s difficult to out-throw immaturity, and so it is challenging to gain enlightenment. But slowly, change would appear.
- Immaturity gets doubled when human revolves around two wrong categories, that is, Spiritual Institutional and Ethical-political groups.
Note: How the humanity would escape from these two groups, is the question a philosopher must examine?
- Enlightenment is studying the connection in between “will”, “reason”, and “authority”. Where ‘‘will’’ and ‘’reason’’ pulls humanity to right path, authority acts as a barrier between the human goals and development.
- Enlightenment is the path of courage to eliminate authority.
- Foucault has concluded that the use of term ‘mankind’ by Kant is complex. As it would again challenge the philosophers to distribute the kinds into respective category to further link with enlightenment. For example, enlightenment of woman, enlightenment of man, enlightenment of beings, etc. would sound challenging. And hence, the current procedure is to study humanity as a “whole”, so as to find true goals of Enlightenment.
For Foucault, Enlightenment is homogenous in nature. - Where Enlightenment is use of self-defined reasons, the dogmatism and heteronomy are illegitimate use of reasons.
Dogmatism -strongly adhering to one’s beliefs while strongly rejecting others
Heteronomy– the state or condition of being under domination
- Kant believed that we don’t live in an Enlightened Age. But we do live in an Age of Enlightenment.
- To think freely is the very basic procedure for attaining the theory of Enlightenment.
- Foucault has mentioned that reasons for the reasonings sake should be avoided. The correct application of reason or free conscience is in the person’s public space rather private.
Kant’s interpretation of Public and Private
Kant has interpreted public and Private world differently. Kant’s interpretations of ‘public’ and ‘private’ is not simply related to personal experience, but it is social categorization.
The private is ‘cog in machine’, the job patterns that is standard and couldn’t be put down. Kant said that in private jobs, one is free to think but not free to act. In such cases, only one thing could keep harmony in system, i.e., “To Obey”.
Just like the duty of doctors, Army, fire-officers, civil-servants, and so on.
The public is the interactions in public domain, where one is capable of using the reasonable approach. Just like in market (bargaining of high price), Football court (asking for re-examining of scores), and food tables (ordering food you like to have), and so on.
Quick conclusion: Elimination of Immaturity= Confirmation of Enlightenment
Foucault Interpretation of Modernity
For Foucault, Modernity is an attitude and not any period of history like pre-modern or post-modern.
To understand attitude of Modernity, Foucault has reflected upon the views of Baudelaire- a French poet, essayist and art critic (1821-1867).
- Modernity in terms of consciousness is discontinuity of time, a break with tradition and feeling of modernity. It is ephemeral, the fleeting, the contingent.
- Modernity is not a fashion that keeps on changing, it’s rather an attitude which comes from within.
- According to Baudelaire, Modernity in a real sense is the will to ‘heroize’ the present. He says, “We are each of us celebrating some funeral”. The development of present in its peak is the real achievement of modernity. For example, the term ‘Politics’ would sound perfect and beautiful when it expresses the Universal equality.
- Modernity is not a spectator’s posture of just observing the change and storing it in our memory.
- Modernity is not a relationship with present but a relationship with oneself.
- Baudelaire modernity, unlike Kant, is not a re-interpreting of human mistakes, but an exposure to practical field. It is an approach to changing reality with liberty of conscience. It is like making the best use of liberty, as well as spoiling it, by choosing terms that violates it. For example- In case a person participates in freedom movement, and inspires others to choose freedom path, but on the other hand, he is not allowing his wife to step out of house and do whatever seems right to her, then it’s a kind of violations of liberty.
- According to Baudelaire, modern man, if not discovering himself, but trying to invent himself does not ‘liberate man of his own being. It is like following the development course by others, but not engaging in real exploration of self.
**In case, you need more information on this, kindly read my post, “Stop self-development, start self-exploration” for conceptual clarity.
Foucault’s way to permanent reactivation of an attitude
Negative
Finding identity of self in enlightenment is a tension. Marxism, personalism, socialism, existentialism has tried to form their independent or unbiased connection with humanism. But in reality, the concepts are not completely autonomous but derived from socio-religious pressure.
Positive
Instead of finding limitations of a theory, one must look to analyze its practical criticism. Criticism is not about finding universal structures but to promote a historical investigation of the cause of our nature.
After going through two different interpretations of Enlightenment by Kant and Baudelaire, Foucault see it as an unbreaking relation to present. It is the permanent re-activation of attitude and permanent critique of historical era. It is leaving behind past, and accepting positivity, as one moves ahead in journey of life.
To conclude, Foucault believed that man’s relation to present, man’s historical mode of being, and the constitution of self as an autonomous subject is rooted in enlightenment.
Reference: What is Enlightenment? in Rabinow (P.), éd., The Foucault Reader, New York, Pantheon Books, 1984, pp. 32-50.
Cite source (MLA 8th edition)