sapere aude

sapere aude

Sapere aude is the Latin phrase meaning "Dare to know"; and also is loosely translated as "Dare to be wise", or even more loosely as "Dare to think for yourself!" Originally used in the First Book of Letters (20 BCE), by the Roman poet Horace, the phrase Sapere aude became associated with the Age of Enlightenment, during the 17th and 18th centuries, after Immanuel Kant used it in the essay, "Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?" (1784). As a philosopher, Kant claimed the phrase Sapere aude as the motto for the entire period of the Enlightenment, and used it to develop his theories of the application of reason in the public sphere of human affairs.

In the 20th century, in the essay "What is Enlightenment?" (1984) Michel Foucault took up Kant's formulation of "dare to know" in an attempt to find a place for the individual man and woman in post-structuralist philosophy, and so come to terms with the problematic legacy of the Enlightenment. Moreover, in the essay The Baroque Episteme: the Word and the Thing (2013) Jean-Claude Vuillemin proposed that the Latin phrase Sapere aude be the motto of the Baroque episteme.[1]

18th century: Immanuel Kant

In the essay, "Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?" (1784), Immanuel Kant describes the Age of Enlightenment as "Man's release from his self-incurred immaturity"; and, with the phrase Sapere aude, the philosopher charges the reader to follow such a program of intellectual self-liberation, by means of Reason. The essay is Kant's shrewd, political challenge to men and women, suggesting that the mass of "domestic cattle" have been bred, by unfaithful stewards, to not question what they have been told about the world and its ways.

Kant classifies the uses of reason as public and private. The public use of reason is discourse in the public sphere, such as political discourse (argument and analysis); the private use of reason is rational argument, such as that used by a person entrusted with a duty, either official or organizational. Skillfully praising King Frederick II of Prussia (r. 1740–86) for his intellectual receptiveness to the political, social, and cultural ideas of the Enlightenment, the philosopher Kant proposes that an enlightened prince is one who instructs his subjects to: "Argue as much as you will, and about what you will, only obey!"

It is the courage of the individual man to abide the advice Sapere aude that will break the shackles of despotism, and reveal, through public discourse, for the benefit of the mass population and of the State, better methods of governance, and of legitimate complaint.[3]

20th century: Michel Foucault

In response to Immanuel Kant's Age of Enlightenment propositions for intellectual courage, in the essay "What is Enlightenment?" (1984), Michel Foucault rejected much of the hopeful politics proposed by Kant: a people ruled by just rulers; ethical leaders inspired by the existential dare advised in the phrase Sapere aude. Instead, Foucault applied ontology to examine the innate resources for critical thinking of a person's faculty of Reason. With the analytical value of Sapere aude reinforced by the concept of "Faithful betrayal" to impracticable beliefs, Foucault disputed the Enlightenment-era arguments that Kant presents in the essay "Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?" (1784).

Like his 18th-century predecessor, Foucault also based his philosophic interpretation of Sapere aude upon a definite practice of critical thinking that is an "attitude, an ethos, a philosophical life in which [is found] the critique of what we are". Such an enlightened, intellectual attitude applies reason to experience, and so effects a historical criticism of "the limits that are imposed on us". The criticism is "an experiment with the possibility of going beyond" imposed limits, in order to reach the limit-experience, which simultaneously is an individual, personal act, and an act that breaks the concept of the individual person.[4]

The phrase is widely used as a motto, especially by educational institutions.

Latin Etymology

It is from the epithet of a parable, explaining that a fool waits for the stream to stop before crossing, while a wise man forgoes comfort and crosses anyway.

The original use seems to be in Epistle II of Horace's Epistularum liber primus[1]: Dimidium facti qui coepit habet: sapere aude ("He who has begun is half done: dare to know!").

Pronunciation: (Classical) IPA(key): /ˈsa.pe.re ˈau̯.deː/, [ˈsa.pɛ.rɛ ˈau̯.d̪eː]

Phrase: sapere audē

"Have the courage to think for yourself"

"Have courage to use your own reason", in the context of committing to tasks that need to be embarked upon, however unpleasant or awkward.

Usage notes

Immanuel Kant described it as the motto of the Enlightenment in his essay "What Is Enlightenment?".

It is a frequently used motto for academic institutions.

References: ^ Epistularum liber primus from The Latin Library, line 40

References

⦁  Jean-Claude Vuillemin, Epistémè baroque: le mot et la chose, Paris, Hermann, coll. "Savoir Lettres," 2013.

⦁  "Horace ''Epistulae'' 1.2.40 from". The Latin Library. Retrieved 2012-03-08.

⦁  "ereau.de steht zum Verkauf". sap.ereau.de.

⦁  "Foucault's Essay, What is Enlightenment?". Foucault.info. Retrieved 2012-03-08.