Brahmoism and Enlightenment scene in pre-independence India

Abstract

Abstract: There have been various attempts to answer the question “What is Enlightenment?” The philosophers and historians have tried to answer this question posed many a time. In the present scenario, the most appreciated and accepted definition of enlightenment is considered to be is that of Immanuel Kant’s. German philosopher Immanuel Kant says that “enlightenment is a man’s release from self-incurred tutelage.’’ Here, tutelage is the inability of a man to make use of his “reason”. He mentions that a man is needed to have courage to use his own reason and remain unaffected of any external force. But the problem with Kantian version of use of reason appears problematic to some. He divided the realm of reason into two spheres, i.e, public use of reason and private use of reason. Where he mentions that only public use of reason must be free and boundless so that debates and arguments can take place and that according to him must have been the first step towards the Enlightenment of a society.