As proposed by Immanual Kant, the Enlightenment was about having "the courage to use one's understanding" and in John Milton's Paradise Lost, Descartes' Meditations and in Cervantes' Don Quixote they collectively provide examples that both affirm and subvert Kant's proposal. Lucifer of Paradise Lost embodies Kant's idea of ​​intellectual independence: struggling against the authority of God to make one's own decisions and arrive at one's own conclusions. In the Meditations, Descartes opposes intellectual conformism but tries to impose his own on others. In Don Quixote our knight errant challenges self-imposed minority with his own form of self-imposition. Together, these works exemplify the diversity of ideas resulting from people's courageous decisions to use their understanding. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay In Paradise Lost, Lucifer believes that the Father's exaltation of the Son above him is unjust and illegitimate, and Lucifer refuses to surrender his personal freedom to Him. While a third of the angels join the his rebellion, Lucifer criticizes the loyal angels: “I see that most out of indolence prefer to serve” (V.166). Lucifer believes that loyalist angels suffer from a self-imposed minority, not thinking of themselves but rather submitting their minds to the predilections of the Almighty. Most famously, the Fallen Angel states, "Better to reign in Hell, than to serve in Heaven" (I.263). Throughout the epic, Lucifer treasures and idolizes his free will, which he interprets as freedom from the authority or even guidance of another. Referring to his perception of the Son's unjust exaltation of himself while in Hell, Lucifer exclaims: “Here we can reign safely, and in my choice to reign ambition is worth it even if in Hell” (I.261 -62). As seen here, Lucifer holds himself to a set of values ​​that is much more idealistic than practical, which fuels his willingness to make bold, even courageous decisions. In this way Milton's Lucifer embodies some traits of the Enlightenment; however, it hardly represents the Enlightenment as a whole, at least in a purist sense. In many ways Lucifer's mind still operates in a self-imposed agelessness, confusing free will with freedom and forging his hellish kingdom into a perverse image of that of God. His rebellion against God was only possible because of the free will that God gave him and the other angels; in a sense, the Almighty gave Lucifer the ability to use his own understanding without the guidance of another. Loyalist angels understand the consequences of rebellion and choose to accept the authority of the Son, demonstrating their own intellectual independence. Lucifer, however, believes that by submitting to authority, he gives up his ability to reason and exercise self-determination. By allowing his pride to blur the difference between free will and freedom, Lucifer imposes a form of agelessness upon himself, with his pride guiding his understanding of the situation. Furthermore, in his attempt to establish his own kingdom in Hell, Lucifer parodies Heaven's Hell, housing intricate palaces, a demonic hierarchy of authority, and a satanic throne from which to rule. Lucifer states, "The mind is its own place, and in itself can make hell a heaven, a hell of heaven" (I.254-55), and to achieve this, he literally attempts to make a "heaven of hell". Just as Lucifer is imperfect in the Hellenic sense, he is also an imperfect representation.