ABSTRACT
Is the function of research the creation of instruments and knowledge for the control of the world about? Or is it to create the conditions for freedom and for creatively engaging with others in order to build social worlds of mutual benefit? Although apparently contrary in aim, each question can draw upon the heritage of the Enlightenment philosophers underpinning the drive towards modernity as liberation from feudal beliefs, traditions and social organization. There was a drive towards mastery over nature, whether this was the formulation of physical laws governing natural processes or control by the mind over the body and its instincts and passions. However, there was also a drive towards liberation, whether on the model of republicanism or a more pragmatic or market form of democracy. Kant expressed the mood and intent of ‘enlightenment’ powerfully as:
Nothing is required for this enlightenment, however, except freedom; and the freedom in question is the least harmful of all, namely, the freedom to use reason publicly in all matters.1
