Think For Yourself.

What would be the first phrase you think of when you think about philosophy, or more specifically the enlightenment? If you were to ask one of the most popular enlightenment thinkers this question, I'm certain he'd just these three words, "think for yourself." In Immanuel Kant’s essay “What is Enlightenment” he opens it by stating, “Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-imposed nonage” Nonage is the inability to use one's own understanding without another's guidance. 

On page 199 of WGU, we saw Kant’s maxim “think for yourself” and in this presentation we are going to dive into what Kant means by this, where it works, and what it’s missing.  

The phrase “think for yourself” embodies the enlightenment message in many ways. It calls on us to take responsibility for our positions, empowers us to progress ahead of our upbringing or background, and challenges us to pursue knowledge and personal understanding of the world around us. Now that we have fleshed out the phrase a little, let's take a look at how we can positively apply it to our lives. This phrase liberates us from the chains of peer pressure, and not a peer pressure that wants us to stay out past curfew, but a peer pressure that wants us to conform to the status quo. For example, if I grew up in a far-leaning political household, this addage calls me to disassociate with the biases I’ve picked up from my upbringing, and to challenge whether or not they are right. In the same way, if I grew up in a deeply religious family, Kant would implore me to not just call my parents religion my own, but to study the things of God and religion and come to my own conclusions.

So, we've clearly seen how important it is to take this statement and apply it to our lives. I’d say we all definitely agree on this rule of thumb and that it should be universally applied. But let’s think about the previous two examples; both involve taking what you know or inherently believe, breaking it down, and searching for the answers and truth of the topic. But where are we searching? Who are we looking to for answers? Taking it even further, who did they look to for answers to, and where did they find those answers? If we take a step back, we see that we are just searching for what other people think, and other people's conclusions. So are we really thinking for ourselves, or just shifting who we emulate? If we take a stepback from what Kant says, his plea for us to think for ourselves, is a plea for us to think like him. If we get this, we can see then that every conclusion and philosophical end we come to, has been discovered by others in the past. If this is true, then the imperative isn't to think for ourselves, but to choose the right person or philosophy to think like. So where do we turn? Well, a lot of places. Do not stake out in one place your whole life, never seeking opposite views and positions. But is there someone we can go to for everything? Is there someone who we can use as a benchmark for all other philosophies and ideas? Some think it is ourselves, that we have the final verdict, and should have the final say for what we think. I mean, it is our life anyway, and we are the ones that have to live with this decision, so it’s only right we get to have the final say. But, does that work? Are we good judges? Do we always know the right answer, or what's right for every situation? I think we could all look back on instances where we fell short, where we were wrong, and where “thinking for ourselves” wasn’t what we needed. Okay, so then if we can’t fully trust others, and can’t fully trust ourselves, are we left to figure everything out in this bleak state, with no other option? I don’t think so, I think we can turn to the Bible.

I believe the Bible is the one thing that transcends cultures, time periods, and world events. It doesn’t care about our standing in the world around us, how we grew up, or whether we have a 4.0 or 2.0 GPA. It calls us all to help others, and speak up when we see injustice. It denounces injustice, sexism, racism, hate speech and wrongdoing, whether the specific culture can see it or not. If we take the bible for what it says, and believe it to be true, then we don’t have to trust imperfect people with our toughest decisions and ethical conclusions, but we can trust the creator of the universe, who gave us his words and ethics for our good and flourishment. Now, that is hinging on a big “if”, and I’m convinced that no one person or argument can convince you if it is true or not. But we have to take Kant’s maxim, and look at it for ourselves. Look at the life of Jesus, who the bible claims was perfect, and see it for yourself. See if he was really God himself like he claimed to be, see if you can rely on and trust him. If the bible is true, we can clearly see how much he loves and cares for this earth and for restoration from the injustice and suffering in it. If God came to earth himself in the form of a man, that proves he isn’t from a distance and turned his back on the world, but that he provided earth a way to be fully restored and prosperous. 

The bible calls us to submit our own reason and understanding, along with the reason and understanding of everyone else to God and his word, and if it is true, we would be failing to use our best resource and help for our life if we don’t accept it.