{"id":128268,"date":"2026-03-20T18:15:29","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T17:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/kolokvij-estlab-a-ima-li-jos-prosvjetiteljstva\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T15:36:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:36:07","slug":"estlab-colloquium-is-there-still-an-enlightenment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/estlab-colloquium-is-there-still-an-enlightenment\/","title":{"rendered":"EstLab Colloquium \u201cIs There (Still) an Enlightenment?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Comment redonner un sens \u00e0 l’expression <\/em><\/strong>\u00bbL’\u00e2ge des Lumi\u00e8res\u00ab? Why do we paraphrase the beginning of an old philosophical text in French? And why do we use a Heideggerian formulation about meaning?<\/p>\n

Kant\u2019s text An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment?<\/em> states that Enlightenment is \u201cman\u2019s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity\u201d, the goal set by such a project (Entwurf<\/em>) of this \u201cAge of Light\u201d. The article, published in the Berlinische Monatsschrift<\/em> back in 1784, may strike some as hopelessly outdated and\u2026 \u201covercome\u201d(?) Does the motto Sapere aude!<\/em><\/strong>, that is, dare to use your own (reasoning) mind independently<\/em>, still have any significance? Any meaning?<\/p>\n

The legacy to which we wish to restore enthusiasm is the French Revolution of 1789. Namely, in Kant\u2019s later text The Conflict of the Faculties<\/em> (1798), this is an important motif. Enthusiasm for the revolution is not tied to the concrete results it produces in social, economic or political terms, but rather to the enthusiasm<\/em><\/strong> it inspires in people, in those who observe it in an enlightened<\/em> manner, Kant says. And\u2026 what is its \u201cmeaning as such\u201d (Heidegger)?<\/p>\n

Of course, we all (do we?) know what we must do in order to become mature, resolute, intelligent and honest people. We also know the difference between the \u201cpublic\u201d and \u201cprivate\u201d use of reason\u2026 But what are we to do with that knowledge in a \u201cworld\u201d that exists as such only in name? Namely, the \u201cworld\u201d\u2026 because every moment in which we live today tells us, painfully and soberingly, that we abandoned long ago the idea of \u201cEMERGING\u201d from the immaturity for which we ourselves are responsible. We would rather accept books<\/em> (today, self-help manuals!), spiritual advisers and physicians<\/em>, to take care of us. Because\u2026 we are cowards, lazy and full of fear<\/strong>. We no longer possess genuine thought in the form of the \u201cpublic use of Reason\u201d, which would correspond to the dimension of the Universal. Everything has shifted into \u201cprivate use\u201d, in the service of universal submission\u2026 To what? TO EVERYTHING, especially to the grotesque world order that mercilessly tramples everything the Enlightenment bequeathed to us as a projection of a better and more just \u201clifeworld\u201d<\/strong>. (It is enough to look at today\u2019s \u201cEurope\u201d, which protects\u2026 its interests<\/em> \/!?\/ in Ukraine, yet shows no compassion for the suffering and killing in Iran \/!?\/)<\/p>\n

Through a reading of Kant\u2019s text and Michel Foucault\u2019s lecture of 5 January 1983 (second hour), we will attempt to pose similar questions, while also trying to discern some new answers to them. Must we, in this entire endeavour, remain bound merely to the dispositif of \u201csecurity\u201d, or can we still (?) invoke the revolutionary fervour of freedom<\/em><\/strong> found in Kant\u2019s 1798 text The Conflict of the Faculties<\/em>?<\/p>\n

We will address all of this at the Colloquium \u201cIs There (Still) an Enlightenment?\u201d, through a discussion among philosophy students and members of EstLab, on Tuesday, 24 March 2026 at 5:30 p.m. (room 39), marking the fifth anniversary of the Aesthetic Laboratory<\/u><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

mk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Comment redonner un sens \u00e0 l’expression \u00bbL’\u00e2ge des Lumi\u00e8res\u00ab? Why do we paraphrase the beginning of an old philosophical text in French? And why do we use a Heideggerian formulation about meaning? Kant\u2019s text An Answer to the Question: What Is Enlightenment? states that Enlightenment is \u201cman\u2019s emergence from his self-incurred immaturity\u201d, the goal set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":124832,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[242],"tags":[],"calendar":[],"class_list":["post-128268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements-and-notices","topics-dogadjaj-en","odsjeci-department-of-philosophy"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128268"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":128270,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128268\/revisions\/128270"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/124832"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128268"},{"taxonomy":"calendar","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ffos.unios.hr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/calendar?post=128268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}