An Enlightenment moralist

Kant's ethical thought is perhaps both the finest and the most characteristic product of the Enlightenment (Aufklärung, éclaircissement). This was an intellectual movement, and to some extent also a social and political movement. In its original form it accompanied, reflected, and contributed to the European bourgeoisie's growing economic, social, and political power and influence. But the Enlightenment was never committed to the interests of a single social class, nation, or segment of humanity. The Enlightenment still exists today, since many people throughout the world still struggle for the expansion of liberty in human thought and action, equality in the social, political, and economic spheres, and tolerance regarding religious and cultural diversity. The thoughts of the movement's eighteenth-century founders are still the driving forces behind most of these struggles, at least to the degree that they occur in cultures influenced by European thought.

The Enlightenment was never a monolithic movement. Its underlying principles have always been subject to change, reinterpretation, and continuing dispute. Any attempt to define it is both a theoretical exercise and a part of an ongoing praxis that aims at supporting, opposing, or transforming the movement itself. The struggle over the identity of the Enlightenment had already begun in Kant's time. From the beginning, its conservative enemies have held it responsible for what they perceive as the moral chaos and spiritual decline of modern society.