Was ist Aufklärung? Ausgewählte kleine Schriften

=What is Enlightenment? Selected small Writings
“Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?,” in Berlinische Monatsschrift (12/1784), pp481-94. [Ak. 8:35-42] “An Answer to the Question: What is Enlightenment?” Translated by Ted Humphrey in Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace & Other Essays (Indianapolis: Hackett, ’83), pp41-46. Trans. by Mary J. Gregor in Immanuel Kant, Practical Philosophy, edited by Mary J. Gregor (Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press, ’96), pp17-22.
J.F. Zöllner published an article in the 12/1783 issue of the Berlinische Monatsschrift in which he opposed the institution of civil marriage—an idea suggested in an article anonymously written by journal editor, J.E. Biester, for the previous September issue & which claimed that tying marriage to religion was contrary to Enlightenment ideals. Zöllner countered that marriage was too important an institution for this & required a stability only religion could provide. The very foundations of morality were being shaken, Zöllner wrote, & we should rethink our steps before “confusing the hearts & minds of the people in the name of Enlightenment”—at which point he asked in a footnote: “What is enlightenment? This question, which is nearly as important as ‘What is truth?’ should be answered before one begins to enlighten.”
Zöllner’s question led to a series of essays appearing in the Berlinische Monatsschrift & elsewhere, including Kant’s (12/1784). An essay by Moses Mendelssohn (“On the Question: What is Enlightenment?”) was 1st delivered as a speech (5/16/1784) before the Wednesday Society to which he, Zöllner, Biester & other leaders of the Berlin Enlightenment belonged.