Kant's definition of an intellectual in the Age of Enlightenment

Abstract

The paper discusses Kant's definition of a scholar as an intellectual in the Age of Enlightenment. Then the relationship between reason and understanding as set forth in the Critique of the Pure Reason is analysed. The analysis is complemented by considering the difference between public and private uses of the reason. The problem of freedom is also interpreted within this difference. The public use of reason as a scholarly position is linked to three basic requirements for thinking: think independently, think elsewhere, and think consistently. These three requirements are determined as necessary conditions in the formation of intellectual engagement. At the end of the paper, it is concluded that Kant's essay on enlightenment simultaneously places Kant in the position of a scholar and an intellectual.

Keywords

• enlightenment
• thinking
• understanding
• reason
• intellectual
• immanuel kant