i think i have sumtin' of interest, and this kinda goes with DM's last post:

Nietzsche in his essay "The Dawn" had some interesting notions on "enlightenment".....my favorite section is 297, on Corruption, which states "The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently."

it's a wonderful little section, but it is a double-edged sword

in an essay i wrote concerning this phrase, i myself became worried with what it means to have "enlightenment..."

even that which is conisdered "enlightened" is in itself corrupt....

you take for example: Slavery

in the past it was okay, as it was the norm, but then a revolution took place, whereby it was deemed wrong and eventually abolished........now, today, we tell the youth that slavery is not okay, and that those who advocate slavery are not enlightened and are in fact wrong........

but, according to Nietzsche's concept, this is in fact very much corruption.......

When society says "A," and enforces it, this is subject to being titled corrupt (and quite possibly wrong), for in time someone may come along and say "COUNTER-A," which can lead to enlightenement if it slowly evolves and becomes accepted, which is most likely the case (for example, women's liberation during the 20's); but then it too falls into being corrupt, whereby again someone may come along and say "COUNTER-COUNTER-A," (for example, feminist, womynist, that whole 'women-can-be-sexually-independent' movement during the 60's), and if accepted by the masses can again falls subject to corruption, whereby you have "COUNTER-COUNTER-COUNTER-A" (for example, those women who say 'I'm all for women's rights, but I choose to be a wife and mother!').......

and this, theoretically, may go on and on and on and on.......

corruption leads to enlightenment, enlightenment leads to corruption.......

now, no one is probably going to claim that anti-slavery, or women's rights, are in anyway wrong, but the corruption is there........the logic is there (i don't go as in depth, but i'm assuming some of you have the intellectual capacity to understand that)

so how does one really achieve enlightenment? through corruption.....

how does on become corrupt? through enlightenment.....

so at what point in time does enlightenment truly matter?