To be critical meant to raise thought so far above all constraints that, through the perception of the falseness of constraints, knowledge of the truth takes flight as if by magic.
Just one question regarding this clause. I am a little bit puzzled by the phrase "knowledge of the truth takes flight as if by magic". I have the problem with the phrase "take flight" in the context of the sentence. In all dictionaries is the meaning of it similar to "flee", "run away" and so on. So this would mean that in the end of the critical process the knowledge of the truth is away, disappeared. Firstly, I thought that this could be some sort of paradox that the author (Walter Benjamin) uses. Just to be sure I browsed through Benjamin's text translated to my native language. Its interpretation of the passage is quite contrary: The knowledge of the truth reveals or – this is a literary translation – gets out of a shell.
So can you tell me what exactly the phrase "take flight" means in the above sentence?