This is all I've done, all day long. In Kant’s essays, man’s freedom from all authority excepting his own is the most important principle in the progression of history because freedom allows reason to be used and expressed rightly, making the process of becoming enlightened and moving forward in history easier. Kant, in his Speculative Beginning of Human History, describes how freedom was first gained by humans. He explains to the readers that “[i]nstinct—that voice of God that all animals obey—must alone have first guided the beginner.” In the garden, the first humans did not do as they pleased, but they followed the commands of God. This means that they were under the authority of God and not acting for themselves; therefore, Kant believes, they were not free. They could not use their reason to its full extent because they were not their own masters. However, Kant explains that human reason had a chance to show itself with regard to the forbidden tree, and “man became conscience of reason as an ability to go beyond those limits that bind all animals.” Kant claims that the first couple reasoned their way into taking the fruit of the forbidden tree and through this discovered that they were different from all of God’s other creations. They did not simply disobey, but they freed themselves from the authority of God and became able to listen to his reason instead of his instinct. Why can't I write anything?! Why is this so hard? This has to be five pages by Tuesday morning. I don't know if it's just that I don't have anything to say or that I just don't care. I wanted to go to sleep early tonight, too.