Kant was writing towards the end of period of European history often referred to as 'the Enlightenment'. Historians will debate the start and end dates of the Enlightenment, but all will agree that it covers most, if not all, of the 18th century, i.e. the 1700s.

The key feature of the Enlightenment is that it had a commitment to the role of reason and this is what is meant by the phrase 'the sovereignty of reason' or, to put it in other words, Enlightenment thinkers regarded reason as the highest authority. All previously accepted truths, particularly those of religion and tradition, had to be examined using reason.

The Enlightenment emphasis on reason grew out of the scientific revolutions of Galileo and Newton. Galileo and Newton had shown what could be achieved when reason was applied to our understanding of the physical world. Enlightenment thinkers wanted to apply this same rigour to other areas such as the structure of human society.

The role of reason is central to the philosophy of Kant and in his moral philosophy he is trying to show how moral truths can be obtained purely through the use of reason. Just as the new science was coming up with laws which were universal, that is they were true everywhere, so Kant wanted to come up with a moral law, based on reason, that would be true everywhere and for everyone. For Kant, a right action is determined by reason and is a rational action.

Our age is the age of criticism, to which everything must be subjected. The sacredness of religion, and the authority of legislation, are by many regarded as grounds of exemption from the examination of this tribunal. But, if they are exempted, they become the subjects of just suspicion, and cannot lay claim to sincere respect, which reason accords only to that which has stood the test of a free and public examination.

Immanuel Kant
from the preface to The Critique of Pure Reason, 1781

 

 

 

 

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