Category: Culture and Society

In Europe, we have an idea of Enlightenment as something where an individual realizes that he or she lives under externally imposed constraints. The goal then is to overcome these constraints and place oneself under a higher law. A light goes on and shines into all the dark corners, thereby questioning what has not yet been reflected upon and examined. This intellectual movement is described with the metaphor of light as a torch. The light of Enlightenment shines centrally into…