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In 1784, Immanuel Kant wrote an essay entitled: “Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment?” (German: Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?). The initial paragraph of Kant’s essay defined a lack of Enlightenment as existing when people failed to think for themselves, not because of a lack of intellect, but rather due to a lack of courage. Kant’s essay addressed the reasons for a lack of Enlightenment and the preconditions necessary to make it possible for people to enlighten themselves. He argued that all religious and state dogmatism and paternalism would need to be abolished and people given the freedom to use their intellect before Enlightenment could be stated to exist. Of course, Kant’s essay does not constitute a full description of the “Enlightenment,” which is a much broader term encompassing social, political, cultural, and economic transformations that began in Europe in the eighteenth century and which have arguably determined who we are, what we think, and how we act today. In accounting history research, references to the Enlightenment have been relatively uncommon. As an example, in a doctoral dissertation published by Juan Baños Sánchez-Matamoros in 2002 at the Universidad Pablo de Olavide in Seville, Spain, there was a central reference to the Illustrados (“Enlightened ones”) at the court of Carlos III in Spain in the eighteenth century. In this dissertation, Baños argued that the Illustrados were following the Enlightenment trend of European philosophy, associated with the works of Locke, Voltaire, Diderot, and Kant during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Enlightenment philosophy was highly critical of all forms of traditional authority, particularly those associated with religion and feudalistic or aristocratic society. Enlightenment thinking sought to replace fear and superstition with “truth” and the establishment of a new social order based on reason, natural law, and political democracy. Many historians have regarded the process of Enlightenment as being linear and irreversible; however, more recent authors such as Adorno and Horkheimer have argued that there have been contradictory and even dangerous aspects to the process of Enlightenment. Even more recent scholars such as Habermas, Foucault, and Lyotard have expressed skepticism about the grand narratives associated with the Enlightenment, which promise that humanity will be liberated through the pursuit of rational knowledge. Despite the pessimism of these authors, it can be argued that advances in scientific knowledge, political democracy, and intellectual freedom have benefited many people in many countries throughout the world, and that a process of Enlightenment can be generally considered to be desirable for most people. The articles in this Special Issue encompass a wide range of historical periods, ranging from research that traces the evolution of Enlightenment philosophy as an emancipatory project, which arose in the eighteenth century, and the resultant effects on political changes in various countries, along with the intertwining between Enlightenment thought and the rise of industrial capitalism. 822011 ACH0010.1177/1032373218822011Accounting HistoryBaker editorial2019