The private use of reason Kant defines as the use of reason “in a certain civil post or office with which he is entrusted.” 1 placeholder To clarify this, he offers three examples: (1) an officer executing his orders (2) a citizen paying his taxes (3) a clergyman instructing his pupils and congregation. While Kant does not philosophise in this article, he does introduce two concepts with philosophical potential: the public and private uses of reason. Published in the December 1784 issue of the Berlinische Monatsschri ft, it was intended as nothing more than a short and modest response to an age searching for its own identity. “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” seems unexceptional in the context of Immanuel Kant’s oeuvre-a minor text by a major philosopher. “If you think Kant is boring, think twice and read him.”
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