Installation

The Enlightenment, that progressive movement which influenced science, culture, and politics from the 18th century to our own times, has become an object of
suspicion and scorn. Today, many critics on the left and the right hold the Enlightenment responsible for much of modern misery. Weren’t its thinkers naïve optimists? Didn’t they blindly worship the kind of reasoning and technology that led to Auschwitz and Hiroshima? Weren’t they racists who claimed universal validity for European values – in order to impose them by force on non-European peoples?

Such questions are raised today wherever the Enlightenment is mentioned. We are told that the Enlightenment was at the very best ambivalent: while it may have been an age of reason, it was also an age of slavery and colonialism. This argument ignores the fact that, like progressive intellectuals everywhere, Enlightenment thinkers did not win all their battles. It also neglects the fact that they fought for them anyway, despite the risks of censorship, exile, and even death.

To celebrate the 300th birthday of Immanuel Kant, the Enlightenment’s greatest philosopher, the Einstein Forum is presenting a multi-part festival that will avoid
the cliches and encourage the public to wrestle with the fundamental issues. This is not a historical project, for the questions which the Enlightenment raised are more relevant than ever. Abandoning the Enlightenment, as many urge us to do, means abandoning our efforts to cultivate our capacities to reason. It also means abandoning three principles at the core of any progressive worldview: a commitment to universalism over tribalism, a belief in a distinction between justice and power, and a belief in the possibility of progress itself.

Why celebrate Kant’s birthday at all? One of the philosopher’s rare autobiographical remarks provides an answer. As the son of a saddle maker, Kant would have led a workman’s life himself had a pastor not suggested the bright lad deserved some higher education. He came to love his studies and“despise the common people who knew nothing” until “Rousseau set me right,” he wrote. Kant rejected his earlier elitism and declared his philosophy would restore the rights of humanity – otherwise it would be more useless than the work of a common laborer.

This claim will puzzle those who have only read a random page of his texts, but Heinrich Heine wrote that Kant was more ruthlessly revolutionary than Robespierre. Not only did Kant dethrone religion from its position of absolute authority. He was also driven by questions that still preoccupy us: are ideas like freedom and justice utopian daydreams, or are they more substantial? Their reality can’t be proven like that of material objects, for those ideas make entirely different claims on us – and some people are completely impervious to them. Could philosophy show that acting morally, if not particularly common, is at least possible?

Nicolas-Henri Jeaurat de Betry:
Allegorie der Revolution (1794) © Alamy

At the heart of Kant’s metaphysics stands the difference between the way the world is and the way the world ought to be. His work is an answer to those who argue that we are helpless in the face of pleasure and can be satisfied with bread and circuses – or artisanal chocolate and the latest iPhone. If that were true, benevolent despotism would be the best form of government. But if we long, in our best moments, for the dignity of freedom and justice, Kant’s work has political consequences. It’s no surprise he thought the French Revolution confirmed our hopes for moral progress – unlike the followers of his predecessor David Hume, who thought it was dangerous to stray from tradition and habit.

This provides an answer to contemporary critics whose reading of Kant’s work focuses on the ways in which it violates our understanding of racism and sexism. Some of his remarks are undeniably offensive to 21st-century ears. But it’s fatal to forget that his work gave us the tools to fight racism and sexism, by providing the metaphysical basis of every claim to human rights. He insisted that when we think morally, we should abstract from the cultural differences that divide us and recognize the potential human dignity in every human being. This requires the use of our reason, for Kant saw reason’s potential as a tool for liberation. He also argued that political and social relations must aim toward justice rather than power, however often those may be confused in practice. We’ve come to better understand how racism and sexism can preclude genuine universalism. Should we discard Kant’s commitment to universalism because he did not fully realize it himself – or rather celebrate the fact that we can make moral progress, an idea which Kant would wholeheartedly applaud?

Saskia Boddeke: Walking with Kant, Film Still (2024) © Saskia Boddeke

 
DIE MACHT DER AUFKLÄRUNG
– WALKING WITH KANT

Throughout most of his life, Kant spent two hours every day walking around his native Königsberg. This walk was so regular that many townspeople set their watches
by it. Only twice in his later life did he diverge from routine: the first time when he was engrossed in reading Rousseau’s book Émile, which he later compared to Newton’s revolution in physics, the second time when he heard the news of the French Revolution. In this exhibit, the artists Saskia Boddeke and Peter Greenaway invite you to walk with Kant to discover the power of the Enlightenment. The five lavishly created rooms offer a journey through major aspects of Enlightenment thought.

Before entering Kant’s study we are introduced to four of the most central concepts of the Enlightenment. The first is the claim that every human being is equally endowed with reason. Rather than depending on church and state authority to determine our actions, the Enlightenment urged the importance of education and the use of reason to decide our own fates. Reason and freedom are connected: knowledge should liberate people from superstition and prejudice, poverty and fear.

Francisco de Goya: Der Schlaf der Vernunft gebiert Ungeheuer (1799) © Public Domain
Anon.: Toussaint Louverture zu Pferd (1802) © Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain

Enlightenment thinkers were committed to an ethics of equality, though they did not always stay true to their commitments. For Kant, the moral law requires us to treat every person as an end in themselves, and never as a means. It took him some time to understand that this required condemning racism and colonialism; and though he never condemned sexism, his moral theory requires it. Most Enlightenment thinkers were outspoken in condemning the slavery and colonialism that flourished in their day.

Enlightenment thinkers used empirical investigations to explore everything from the lowliest plants and animals to the movements of heaven. Science could be used to challenge oppression that was based on a supposed natural order. Were poverty and illness the result of divine Providence, as religion and state claimed? Or could advances in medicine and agriculture show that human beings have the power to improve our own lives? Science could demystify forces that had seemed overpowering. Lightning, which religion attributed to the wrath of heaven, was a form of electricity that could be harnessed and tamed. The discovery of the smallpox vaccine and progress in hygiene prevented millions of deaths.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard: Dem Genie von Franklin (ca. 1778) © National Gallery of Art, Public Domain

The Enlightenment was an age of exploration; its thinkers were fascinated by knowledge of other cultures. This led to large collections of flora and fauna from distant lands. More importantly, information about non-European social and political customs was often used to criticize European society. Most philosophers of the Enlightenment condemned the colonialism that often occurred in the wake of such voyages. Kant wrote that the colonizers “oppress the natives, excite widespread wars among the various states, spread famine, rebellion, perfidy, and the whole litany of evils which afflict mankind. China and Japan, who have had experience with such guests, have wisely refused them entry.”

In his essay “What is Enlightenment?” Kant argues that Enlightenment is less a matter of knowledge than of courage. “Sapere aude – Dare to think for yourself!” he urged. The video installation by Boddeke and Greenaway explores what this means. Laziness is one reason we refuse to take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, but Kant also is aware that state authorities work to make us afraid of freedom, since docile citizens are asier to control.

Saskia Boddeke: Walking with Kant, Film Still (2024) © Saskia Boddeke

WALKING WITH KANT
In his essay “What is Enlightenment?” Kant argues that Enlightenment is less a matter of knowledge than of courage. “Sapere aude – Dare to think for yourself!”
he urged. The video installation by Boddeke and Greenaway explores what this means. Laziness is one reason we refuse to take responsibility for our thoughts and actions, but Kant also is aware that state authorities work to make us afraid of freedom, since docile citizens are easier to control.

H IS FOR HOPE
Even if religious dogmas no longer play a role in many cultures, the four horsemen of the apocalypse may haunt even atheist dreams. Though it has offered tools for liberation, the Enlightenment created new dangers. Can we use its tools to overcome the threats to humankind? Without the certainty of progress, what can we hope? Kant argued that hope is not an emotion but a moral obligation; without it, we cannot act to overcome war and injustice.

Emil Dörstling: Kant und seine Tischgenossen (1892/93) © Alamy

Kant was a generous and lively host who invited guests to dine at mid-day before taking his afternoon walk. The last room shows the table they might have left after
a full meal and spirited conversation. While he generally refused to discuss philosophy at table, the subjects of discussion often returned to the three questions he believed to drive all reason’s endeavors: What can I know? What should I do? What may I hope? Any answer we may give must navigate between the demand to see
the world as it is without forgetting the way the world ought to be.

Exhibition booklet

Place: Orangery, Neuer Garten, Potsdam
Directions

Runtime: August 24 to September 25, 2024, Mon–Sun 11:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
September 10 to September 15, 19 and 21, 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
September 18 and 22 closed.

Admission: €3.00 for adults,
€2.00 for seniors, students, and minors

zur Ticketbestellung / Buy tickets here

Vernissage: August 23, 2024, 6:00 p.m.
Finissage: September 25, 24, 6:00 p.m.
Press preview: August 21, 2024, 11:00 a.m.

Credits:
Artists: Saskia Boddeke, Peter Greenaway

Einstein Forum:
Director: Susan Neiman
Curator: Cilly Kugelmann

Assistant to the artists: Pip Greenaway
Production manager: Marita Ruyter, Nadine Söll
Music composer: Luca D’Alberto
Editor: Elmer Leupen
Video design: Peter Wilms
Sound design: Danny Weijermans
Featuring for artworks, prop design: Manuel Schubbe
Props: Jesus Trujillo
Calligraphy: Brody Neuenschwander

Management and coordination: Goor Zankl, Franziska Bomski, Dominic Bonfiglio
Accountant: Antonia Angold
Webmaster: Andreas Schulz
Consultant: Benjamin Zachariah

Exhibition planning and realization: KatzKaiser, Tobias Katz, Matthias Förster
Audio visual equipment: Eidotech
Wall design: Liquid Paint, Patrick Gutschmidt
Light design: Victor Kegli, 50 Lux
Electrical installation: Pinz GmbH
Exhibition architecture: Art Department Studio Babelsberg, MaLeWo GbR
Facsimiles: Klünder Buchbinderei, Wiebke Dane
Wall mural: Ulrich Welter, Manufaktur für Wandunikate
Kant letters: Brody Neuenschwander, Vera Roth
Graphic design: Dots & Ducks
Public relations: Artefakt Kulturkonzepte

Film crew for Walking with Kant:
Director: Saskia Boddeke
Lyrics: Peter Greenaway, Pip Greenaway
Assistant to director: Pip Greenaway
Producer: Marita Ruyter

Music composer: Luca D’Alberto
Editor: Elmer Leupen
Calligraphy: Brody Neuenschwander

Director of photography: Ruzbeh Babol
Costume design: Marrit van der Burght
Wigs: Bobby Renooij
Actors: Hendrik Aerts, Pip Greenaway
Dancer: Dunja Jocic

Gaffer: Uwe Kuipers
First AD: Nura Babol
Camera operator:Indy Hamid
Sound: Roberto van Eijden
Props and set: Jesus Trujillo
Set designer: Max Degen
Camera assistant: Ivo Valkenburgh
Best boy: Michiel Hageman
Best boy: Rikke van der Heul
Light assistant: Frits Schreefel
Visagie and costumes on set: Anna de Vriend
Autocue: Eva Mulder
Runner: Lukas Thole
Catering: Lunchidee