Modern Enlightenment

The people of the 18th and 21st centuries share the common experience of profound technological, social, and cultural upheavals. At the dawn of industrialization, thinkers of the European Enlightenment could only begin to sense the consequences of the Anthropocene. Today, we are experiencing a similarly pivotal epochal shift, which leads to both practical and mental uncertainties. We are faced with the task of addressing interconnected crises in the areas of environment, health, poverty, and war. The science and philosophy of the Enlightenment hold theoretical potential for responding rationally to the contingencies of late-modern civilization.

Johannes Rohbeck is Professor emeritus of Practical Philosophy and Didactics of Philosophy at the Technical University of Dresden.

The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence. A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content.