Kant vs Mark Twain

One of our tasks this week was to write an essay comparing Kant´s Freedom to Reason and Mark Twains Corn-Pone Opinions. I found both of these lectures very interesting.

I agree both with Kant and Twain. Most people, if not all, base their opinions on what society thinks, most ideas are not original. People in this world are cowards, in the sense that they are afraid to express their opinions. People don’t want to share their own ideas because of fear that they are different or that society wont accept them. People are just seeking to please others, trying to express in their opinions what other people want to hear. Even I, who sometimes thinks that I am truly loyal to my inner self, am affected by society and by what others may think. No body wants to be an outcast.

So it is everybodys nature no conform. We conform to what people want us to think, we conform with the rules that are set, we conform with our teacher, we conform with our learning. Why conform?

The paragraph following is an extract of my essay: “I believe both essays are telling us that people want other people to think for them (such as Kant’s guardians), that they just want to conform and equal their opinion to that of society as long as they remain a part of that society, without the risk of becoming an outcast.”

The only difference I found in both lectures was that I believe that Kant thinks that anybody can be enlightened and Mark twain believes that no one, in tha majority has original ideas, and if they do they should be put in a museum.

So my dear readers do as Kant says in Freedom to Reason, Sapere Aude! –Dare to be wise.