For centuries, Jews in Europe were subjected to discrimination. The 18th century marked a turning point, even as exclusion continued: under the influence of the Enlightenment a discussion emerged about religious tolerance and legal equality. In the German-speaking world, the Jewish Enlightenment, the Haskalah (Hebrew השכלה), developed against this background.
Kant’s attitude toward Judaism was ambivalent: on the one hand, he was friends with Jews, and his thought was a central inspiration for many Jewish Enlightenment thinkers. On the other hand, he devalued the Jewish religion through Christian anti-Jewish stereotypes and demanded that it be dissolved into a universal religion of reason.