The Enlightenment Era & Subjectivity

The Enlightenment period was an intellectual movement which was a significant turning point during the eighteenth century of the western world. The philosophical ideas of this era were perhaps partially in response to the unfortunate conditions that much of the world was in at the time. Subjectivity became a concern during this period and for the first time the subject was viewed as a self-ruling individual that is constructed through society. Some of the leading theories of subjectivity and selfhood during the Enlightenment period came from Descartes, Rousseau and Kant.
The Cogito ergo sum, “I think, therefore I am” was a quote from Descartes that explain his ideas of selfhood and the individual during this era. He believed that the “self” is the basis of the world around us and creates our experiences, knowledge and feelings. Descartes theory of selfhood is based on the individual’s consciousness of reality and reason. His idea of consciousness is making sense of the world, which is what “selfhood” is. These theories have had a remarkable impact on other enlightenment thinkers.
Jean-Jacques Rousseau often used his own life in explaining his theory of self-sufficiency. He stressed the idea that each person is good and it is the unnatural aspects of society that has corrupted them. Whether they are good or bad, they are an individual, different from next. He believed that the only way to find the truth of the natural individual is to remove yours self from the unnatural word that we were once in.
Immanuel Kant believed that the “self” or the “I” was always the origin of our thoughts, actions and perceptions of all aspects of the world around us. He believed that for every mental and physical experience in this world we must have a conscious awareness of the self.