Kant vs the Algorithm

In 1784, Immanuel Kant wrote the short essay “What is Enlightenment?” It’s not quite as influential or as pored-over as some of his other work, especially the major books (the three “Critiques”) which secured his reputation. Nor is its style as opaque as those famously dense works. It’s a slim essay written to answer a prompt that had appeared the previous year in the Prussian newspaper Berlinische Monatsschrift. The prompt was an opportunity for respondents to pen a manifesto summarizing the ideals of the Age of Enlightenment. And for once Kant, who was born 300 years ago today, was willing to give a straight answer.