Historedia
Episode 2 of 2

Publication of "What Is Enlightenment?"

When
December 1784
Where
Berlinische Monatsschrift publication venue
Part of
Publication of Kant's 'What Is Enlightenment?'

Kant's essay appeared in the December 1784 issue of the Berlinische Monatsschrift, answering Zöllner's question.

In the December 1784 issue of the Berlinische Monatsschrift (Berlin Monthly), edited by Friedrich Gedike and Johann Erich Biester, Kant replied to the question posed a year earlier by the Reverend Johann Friedrich Zöllner, an official in the Prussian government. The essay, "Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?" (Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?), is a 1784 work by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The supplied sources confirm the month of publication but not a specific day.

Sources

  1. What Is Enlightenment? Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-18

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.