what is enlightenment kant

"What Is Enlightenment?" is a 1784 essay by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. In the essay, Kant answers the question "What is Enlightenment?" by stating that it is "mans emergence from his self-incurred immaturity". He argues that this immaturity is self-inflicted not from a lack of understanding, but from the lack of courage to use ones reason, intellect, and wisdom without the guidance of another. Kant believed that the motto of the Enlightenment is "Sapere aude" or "Dare to know". He also argued that the public can enlighten itself if given freedom, and that enlightenment is almost inevitable if this is the case. Kant valued the essential ideals of the Enlightenment and viewed the French Revolution, which put these ideals into law, as the triumph of liberty over despotism.