Kant and Twain again (and essay) – D14

I kant believe it! Another dialogue about whether Kant and Twain agree or not about what is Enlightenment! Actually, it wasn’t bad at all. I was just practicing my irony, got it? And Twain thinks his irony is good, ha! The dialogue went pretty well, we had a long discussion with many arguments and although we didn’t reach a general consensus, it was very constructive. My point of view is that they don’t agree because in order for them to agree, Twain’s entire essay must be an irony, and I didn’t see any concrete evidence on his essay that he was doing so. Also, nobody was successful persuading me that he was in fact being ironic. I was not the only one thinking this way, since Kata and Chacho also thought this way. It was a relief to finally put an “end” to this discussion, although I’m sure we will eventually come back to this.

Here is my essay of whether I consider them agreeing or not, enjoy!

Michael Polanyi College                                              Guatemala, September 17^th, 2012

“The Enlightenment”

Do Kant and Twain agree on what is Enlightenment?

“Enlightening is, Man’s quitting the nonage occasioned by himself. Nonage or minority is the inability of making use of one’s own understanding without the guidance of another”

– Immanuel Kant, An Answer to the Question, What is Enlightening?

“We all do no end of feeling, and we mistake it for thinking. And out of it we get an aggregation, which we consider a boon. Its name is Public Opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles everything. Some think it the Voice of God.”

– Mark Twain, Corn-Pone Opinions

Do they agree? In order to know if Kant and Twain agree on what is Enlightening, first we must see each perspective and definition of what it is to be Enlightened. I warn you, readers, that this essay may have a turn in opinion through it, so it’s your duty to resolve those questions by your own.

Kant’s definition of Enlightening is mentioned above. He thinks that in the world there are two groups, the minority and the majority. The minors are those in nonage, and only they are capable of “stepping beyond the go-cart, in which they are inclosed”, and step to majority, those who reach the Enlightenment. This is not simple, mainly because of the “guardians” that prevent the minors to venture them to walk by themselves. In conclusion, Kant thinks is in our capacity to “make use of one’s own understanding without the guidance of another”, as long as we quit the laziness and cowardice that are almost natural to human beings.

Twain says: “I am persuaded that a coldly-thought-out and independent verdict… is a most rare thing – if it has indeed ever existed.” He doesn’t believe in original opinions, neither as independent ones. He believes that the self-approval comes from the approval of other people, thus it is our nature is to conform to the general opinion and render to it. We are beings of association and sympathy, not reasoning and examination. He says: “Broadly speaking, there are non but corn-pone opinions… corn-pone stands for self-approval… The result is conformity.”

I think they are on the same page. I mean they both think of the same problem, and that is that we are in a society in which it is easier to go with what most people think and not resist the general opinions. Kant says there are “guardians” that prevent us from stepping to majority, but it is up to us to change that and think for ourselves. Twain says that everything we think comes from an external cause, we don’t think independently but with our party. The problem is the same, external causes that affect the use of our own understanding. Do they agree? Definitely not. Kant believes there is another way to live our life. He believes we can step to majority, live by our own understanding, and create original ideas. Twain thinks that we are doomed to being minority, to not ever think by ourselves. We are only guided by the fashions, by what the general opinion accepts. For Twain, there is no such thing as majority, we will always be minors and there is nothing we can do about it but to conform. His essay constantly reinforces these statements, and does not mention anything we can do in order to stop being a minor. Is he really implying that? Or is he just being ironic by fooling us to believe that this is the way it is supposed to be, but at the end is our duty to get free from the general opinion? There is little evidence that this might be the case mainly because he is not being clear in some statements. For example, he says: “It is our nature to conform; it is a force which not many can successfully resist.” This might imply that there are some people that do resist conformity. Nevertheless, he refutes it later by saying: “(…) The inborn requirement of self-approval. We all have to bow to that; there are no exceptions.” In this statement, he is reinforcing his argument that our self-approval comes from the approval of other people, of external influences.

Do you still think he is being ironic? How about this? As mentioned before, Twain writes that he doesn’t believe in a “coldly-thought-out and independent verdict or opinion”. If he is being ironic, then this statement implies that he does think there are original opinions and that he is in fact writing one. So, his essay is an original opinion. But wait, is his essay and Kant’s based on the same problem, and Kant was born before him? Indeed, Kant was born in 1724 and died in 1804, while Twain was born in 1835 and died in 1910. By logic based on chronology and on Kant’s reputation, there is an enormous possibility that Twain might have read Kant’s essay. So Twain may think he has a coldly-though-out and original opinion, but he had an external influence. If, by any means, he didn’t even heard of Kant’s ideas, his idea is still not original because Twain got the base of his idea from the black philosopher.

Kant says we can think for ourselves; Twain says we mistake the feeling for thinking. If Twain is being ironic throughout his entire essay, then they agree, but in my perspective, that’s not the case. Sapere aude!