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kant this is the first full-length biography in more than fifty years of immanuel kant one of the giants among the pantheon of western philosophers as well as the one with the most powerful and broad influence on contemporary philosophy it is well known that kant spent his entire life in an isolated part of prus¬ sia living the life of a typical university professor this has given rise to the view that kant was a pure thinker with no life of his own or at least none worth considering seriously manfred kuehn debunks that myth once and for all kant s life 1724-1804 spanned almost the entire eighteenth century and the period of his adulthood coincided with some of the most significant changes in the western world many of which still reverberate in our lives today this was the period in which the modern view of the world originated and this biography reveals how kant s philosophy was an expression of and response to this new conception of modernity his intellectual life reflects the most significant intellectual political and scientific developments of the period from the literary movement of sturm und drang to such distant events as the french and american revolutions taking account of the most recent scholarship professor kuehn allows the reader whether interested in philosophy history politics german culture or religion to follow the same journey that kant himself took from being a scholar narrowly focusing on the metaphysical foundations of newtonian science to emerging as a great thinker expounding the defense of the morality of an enlightened citizen of the world manfred kuehn was a professor of philosophy at purdue university from 1983 to 1999 he is now teaching at the philipps-universität marburg.

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kant a biography manfred kuehn philipps-universität marburg cambridge university press

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published by the press syndicate of the university of cambridge the pitt building trumpington street cambridge united kingdom cambridge university press the edinburgh building cambridge cb2 2ru uk 40 west 20th street new york ny 10011-4211 usa 10 stamford road oakleigh melbourne 3166 australia ruiz de alarcön 13 28014 madrid spain dock house the waterfront cape town 8001 south africa ooofc o http www.cambridge.org © cambridge university press 2001 this book is in copyright subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of cambridge university press first published 2001 first paperback edition 2002 printed in the united states of america typeface ehrhardt 10.5/13 pt system quarkxpress 4.0 tm [ag a catalog record for this book is available from the british library library of congress cataloging in publication data is available isbn 0 521 49704 3 hardback isbn 0 521 52406 7 paperback

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to margret

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contents acknowledgments cast of characters chronology of kant s life and works prologue 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 page ix xi xv i 24 61 100 144 188 238 277 329 386 childhood and early youth 1724-1740 student and private teacher 1740-1755 the elegant magister 1755 1764 a palingenesis and its consequences 1764-1769 silent years 1770-1780 all-crushing critic of metaphysics 1780-1784 founder of a metaphysics of morals 1784-1787 problems with religion and politics 1788-1795 the old man 1796-1804 notes works cited index 423 511 531 vii

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acknowledgments of the north american kant society in 1986 was a sig¬ nificant event not only for kant scholarship in the united states but also for me personally i have been lucky to be able to serve as the society s bib¬ liographer since its inception and i am glad to observe that kant scholar¬ ship has become a more cooperative enterprise since that time indeed i have benefited greatly from the help of many friends and colleagues whom i might never have known without this institution i cannot thank all of those who have had an influence on my work over the years but i would like to give a special thanks to the late lewis white beck who was the found¬ ing father of the society like many i owe him a great debt i am sure this book would have been greatly improved if it could have benefited from his advice but unfortunately that was not to be the founding i have however been fortunate to benefit from the help and advice of many others i am very grateful to terry moore who first encouraged me to think about the necessity for a new biography of kant and then suggested that i write it without him this book would never have been written it would have remained a dream in writing the book i have incurred many other debts first among those are the ones to my friends in marburg who helped me greatly not only in the research but also in the preparation of the first draft heiner klemme s encouragement help and friendship were decisive from beginning to end i cannot thank him enough werner stark s expert advice improved the work a great deal and saved me from a num¬ ber of serious errors werner euler generously shared some of his unpub¬ lished work with me reinhard brandt who rightfully pointed out to me early on that any biography of kant could be written only in marburg was also helpful in a number of ways his comments on the penultimate version were especially important i am also grateful to the staffs of the university library and the library ix

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x acknowledgments of the institute of philosophy at the philipps-universität marburg and of the herder institute in marburg i spent many enjoyable hours there in the summers of 1995 and 1997 as well as a few days in 1996 and 1998 some of the preparatory work was done with the support of a summer grant from the national endowment for the humanities in the summer of 1988 and a fellowship at the center for humanistic studies at purdue university during the fall of 1990 this support was originally for a study of kant s philosophical development parts of which have been incorporated into this book much of the first draft was written with the support of another fellowship at the center for humanistic studies during the fall of 1995.1 am also thankful to rod bertolet the chair of the department of philosophy at purdue university who made various arrangements that made it possi¬ ble for me to return to marburg in 1997 some of my other colleagues at purdue namely cal schräg william mcbride and jacqueline marina graciously commented on an early draft of the first three chapters and the comments and suggestions of mary norton and rolf george significantly improved the final version of those chapters martin curd read various parts and left his mark on them i have indicated some in the text karl ameriks michael gill steve naragon konstantin pollok and frederick rauscher read the entire manuscript and made many helpful comments for which i am most grateful karl ameriks and michael gill especially took such an active interest in the project that their influence is everywhere i wish that the final product could more adequately express what i have learned from them finally i would like to thank margret kuehn for her support during the writing of this book and my other quixotic travails.

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cast of characters boromski ludwig ernst 1740-1832 one of kant sfirststudents he remained friendly with kant throughout his life during his later years borowski was a high official in the lutheran church of prussia he was a frequent dinner guest during kant s last years he wrote one of the three official biographies of kant but did not attend his funeral baczko adolph franz joseph von 1756-1823 a student of kant s during the sev¬ enties and a friend of kraus although he lost his eyesight he was a capable historian a professorship at the university of königsberg was denied him because he was a catholic beck jacob sigismund 1761-1840 one of kant s most famous early followers he studied in königsberg where he was as much influenced by kraus as by kant he pub¬ lished between 1793 and 1796 a volume of explanations of kant s critical philosophy early on he was an orthodox follower of kant s in his last book the only possible point of view from which critical philosophy must be judged beck went his own way much to kant s chagrin fichte johann gottlieb 1762-1814 famous idealist philosopher he came to königs¬ berg where he wrote the critique of all revelation 1792 kant used his influence to see that it was published this work which appeared anonymously was first viewed as kant s own kant s revelation of fichte s authorship made him famous later fichte went beyond kant he severely criticized kantian philosophy and thus drew kant s ire funk johann daniel 1721-1764 a very popular professor of law in königsberg and a close friend of the young kant he led a loose life and he had a decisive influence on hippel goeschen johann julius 1736-1798 came to königsberg in 1760 where he soon became a friend of kant and the jacobis he was first the master and then the director of the mint in königsberg he and maria charlotta jacobi became lovers and married after she got a divorce after the marriage kant remained friendly with goeschen even though he never entered their house green joseph 1727-1786 british merchant in königsberg and the closest friend of kant hippel is said to have used green as a model for his man of the clock a charxi

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xii cast of characters acter who lives by inviolable maxims and strictly by the clock later writers transferred these characteristics to kant hamann johann georg 1730-1788 one of kant s and green s close friends born and educated in königsberg hamann was also known as the magus of the north he was one the most important christian thinkers in germany during the second half of the eighteenth century advocating an irrationalistic theory of faith he opposed the prevailing enlightenment philosophy he was the mentor of the literary movement of sturm und drang herder popularized these ideas after leaving königsberg in 1764 herder johann gottfried 1744-1803 one of kant s students during the early sixties influenced as much by hamann as by kant he became one of the most important writers of the sturm und drang movement and had an enormous influence on pre-romantic thinkers in germany after kant reviewed his ideas anonymously and very crit¬ ically herder turned against his teacher herz markus 1747-1803 one of kant s most important students a respondent at the defense of kant s inaugural dissertation and an important correspondent for kant after moving to berlin in 1770 herz became a medical doctor in berlin where he gave lectures on kant s philosophy that influenced important government officials in favor of kant hippel theodor gottlieb von 1741 1796 friend of hamann and kant who became the mayor of königsberg he wrote many humorous plays and novels like kant and schulz he went to the collegium fridericianum and he studied at the university during kant s earliest years as a lecturer there hippel and kant were friends but always kept a polite distance jachmann reinhold bernhard 1767-1843 closely associated with kant between 1783 and 1794 as his amanuensis or academic helper jachmann knew kant well dur¬ ing the years in which he published his most famous works jachmann and his older brother johann benjamin 1765-1832 were closely associated with joseph green and robert motherby johann benjamin also one of kant s amanuenses practiced medi¬ cine in königsberg after studying in edinburgh reinhold bernhard jachmann was one of the three official biographers of kant jacobi johann conrad 1718-1774 banker in königsberg and friend of hamann and kant he was the husband of maria charlotta until their divorce in 1768 one of kant s close friends he took care of some of kant s private business such as the regular pay¬ ments to his poor relatives jacobi maria charlotta 1739-1795 called the princess who divorced johann conrad jacobi and married johann julius goeschen kant who was a friend of both johann conrad jacobi and johann julius goeschen never went to the house of the göschens after gossiping too much about the events leading up to the divorce kanter johann jakob 1738-1786 book dealer and publisher who was close to kant hamann and hippel kant lived for a while in a building that housed his bookshop kanter was the publisher of many of kant s works keyserlingk caroline charlotte amalie countess 1729-1791 kant s ideal of a woman the wife of count heinrich christian keyserlingk kant was a close friend

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cast of characters xiii of the family with a standing invitation to their table where he almost always sat at the place of honor beside the countess keyserlingk heinrich christian count 1727-1787 the husband of caroline char¬ lotte amalie kant and the count seem to have shared many political views kraus christian jacob 1753-1807 perhaps kant s most talented student during the seventies kraus became his colleague in 1780 and taught moral philosophy today he is best known as one of the people who introduced adam smith s ideas into germany even though kraus and kant were good friends even sharing a common household at one time they had a falling out sometime before the third critique was published in some ways kraus was closer to hamann than to kant lambert johann heinrich 1728-1777 mathematician and philosopher lambert s philosophical correspondence with kant was an important source of inspiration for the latter lampe martin 1734-1806 kant s servant throughout most of his life he was a retired soldier lampe was rather limited in his intelligence and kant had constant problems with him he had to let him go at the very end of his life because he drank so heavily that he neglected his duties as a servant mendelssohn moses 1729-1786 famous jewish philosopher who was kant s literary friend and supporter mendelssohn and herz became friends in berlin after 1770 kant thought highly of mendelssohn and their correspondence was important to him motherby robert 1736-1801 english merchant partner of green and kant s close friend kant had a great deal of influence on the education of motherby s sons he also had much of his money invested in the firm of green and motherby reinhold karl leonhard 1758-1823 one of the first popularizers of kant s philoso¬ phy though he never met kant in person he made kant a household name after becoming professor in jena he abandoned strict kantian philosophy for his own phi¬ losophy of representation later as a follower of fichte he became critical of kant but kant always remained grateful to reinhold scheffner johann georg 1736-1820 a friend of hippel hamann and kant he published risque poems ä la grecourt in 1761 he became secretary in the ministry of war in königsberg in 1765 and 1766 but retired the next year schulz johann 1739-1805 a friend of kant s who studied at the university of königsberg during kant s first years as a lecturer he reviewed kant s inaugural dis¬ sertation and during the seventies became court chaplain in königsberg and lecturer in mathematics after becoming the first defender of kant s critical philosophy he was appointed full professor wasianski ehregott andreas christoph 1775-1831 studied theology at the uni¬ versity of königsberg between 1772 and 1780 he took courses from kant and was his amanuensis he became a deacon in königsberg in 1786 and took care of kant during his last years he was the executor of kant s will and the third of the three official biographers of kant.

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chronology of kant s life and works 1724 1732 1735 1737 1740 april 22 immanuel kant is born fall kant begins to attend the collegium fridericianum birth of his brother johann heinrich died 1800 death of his mother born 1697 september 24 inscribed at the university of königsberg death of frederick william i frederick ii the great becomes king of prussia death of his father born 1682 1746 1748-54 private tutor in judtschen arnsdorf and rautenburg 1749 first book thoughts on the true estimation of the living forces gedanken von der wahren schätzung der lebendigen kräfte knutzen dies wolff dies two essays whether the earth has changed in its revolutions ob die erde in ihrer umdrehung einige veränderung erlitten habe and on the ques¬ tion whether the earth is aging from a physical point ofview die frage ob die erde veralte physikalisch erwogen general history and theory of the heavens allgemeine naturgeschichte und theorie des himmels june 12 promotion to magister with the thesis on fire de igne september 27 acquires permission to lecture at the university with the thesis a new exposition of the first principles of metaphysics principiorum primorum cognitionis metaphysicae nova dilucidatio xv 1751 1754 1755

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xvi 1756 chronology january to april three essays on the earthquake in lisbon april 8 applies unsuccessfully for knutzen s position april 10 disputation on his physical monadology metaphysica cum geometria iunctae usus in philosophia naturalis cuius specimen i continet monadologia physicam april 25 new remarks about the explanation of the theory of winds {neue anmerkungen zur erläuterung der theorie der winde announcement of his lectures for the summer semester easter announcement of his lectures sketch and announcement of a lec¬ ture course on physical geography with an appendix whether the westerly winds in our environs are so humid because they blow over a large ocean entwurf und ankündigung eines collegii der physischen geographie nebst anhang january 22 occupation of königsberg by the russians summer semester announcements of his lectures a new doctrine of motion and rest neuer eehrbegriff der bewegung und ruhe december applies unsuccessfully for kypke s position fall announcement of his lectures essay on some views about optimism versuch einiger betrachtungen über den optimismus thoughts at the occasion of mr johann friedrich von funk s untimely death gedanken beidem frühzeitigen ableben des herrn johann friedrich von funk july the russian occupation of königsberg ends the false subtlety of the four syllogistic figures die falsche spitzfind¬ igkeit der vier syllogistischen figuren erwiesen herder becomes kant s student until 1764 rousseau emile and contrat social the only possible argument in support ofa demonstration of the existence of god der einzig mögliche beweisgrund zu einer demonstration des daseins gottes attempt to introduce the concept ofnegative magnitudes into philosophy ver¬ such den begriff der negativen größen in die weltweisheit einzuführen declines professorship of poetry observations on the feeling of the beautiful and sublime beobachtungen über das gefühl des schönen und erhabenen essay on the illnesses of the head versuch über die krankheiten des kopfes in königsberger gelehrte und politische zeitungen review of silberschlag s theory ofthe fireball that appeared on july 23 ij62 in the same paper 1757 1758 1759 1760 1762 1763 1764

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chronology xvii prize essay for the berlin academy inquiry concerning the distinctness of the principles of natural theology and morality untersuchungen über die deutlich¬ keit der grundsätze der natürlichen theologie und der moral lambert new organon 1765 fall announcement of his lectures announcement of the organization of his lectures in the winter semester 1765/66 nachricht von der einrichtung seiner vorlesungen in dem winterhalbenjahre von 1765/66 begins correspondence with lambert application for the position of sublibrarian at the schloßbibliothek leibniz new essays on the human understanding dreams of a spirit-seer elucidated by dreams of metaphysics träume eines geistersehers erläutert durch träume der metaphysik begins correspondence with mendelssohn april 1766 to may 1772 sublibrarian at the schloßbibliothek mendelssohn phaedo concerning the ultimate ground of the differentiation of directions in space von dem ersten grunde des unterschiedes der gegenden im räume october offer from erlangen december rejection of the offer from erlangen january offer from jena march application for professorship at the university of königsberg march 31 appointment to professor of logic and metaphysics inaugural dissertation de mundi sensibilis atque intelligibilis forma etprincipiis defended on august 21 1766 1768 1769 1770 1770 81 silent years origin of the critique ofpure reason kritik der reinen vernunft 1771-88 karl abraham von zedlitz serves as minister of education in prussia 1771 review of moscati of the essential difference in the structure of the bodies of humans and animals lambert architectonic easter announcement of his lectures of the differenthuman races von den verschiedenen rassen der menschen crusius dies an essay on the dessau philanthropinum königsbergische zeitung hume dies summer semester kant becomes dean of the faculty of philosophy declaration of independence and the virginia declaration of rights 1775 1776

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xviii 1777 chronology another essay on the dessau philanthropinum tetens essays lambert dies declines an offer to become professor in halle voltaire and rousseau die lessing on the education of the human race 1778 1779-80 winter semester kant serves as dean 1780 1781 1782 becomes permanent member of the university senate until 1804 may critique of pure reason kritik der reinen vernunft announcement of the publication of lambert s correspondence information for medical doctors nachrichten an arzte 1782-83 winter semester kant serves as dean r 7&3 prolegomena prolegomena zu einerjeden künftigen metaphysik die als wissen¬ schaft wird auftreten können review of schulze s attempt at a guide toward a moral doctrine for all man¬ kind independent ofdifferences of religion december kant buys his own house mendelssohn jerusalem november idea for a universal history of mankind idee zu einer allge¬ meinen geschichte in weltbürgerlicher absicht in berlinische monatsschrift december answer to the question what is enlightenment beantwor¬ tung der frage was ist aufklärung diderot dies january and november review of herder s ideas in allgemeine literaturzeitung jena march concerning the volcanoes on the moon Über die vulkane im monde in berlinische monatsschrift april groundwork ofthe metaphysics ofmorals grundlegung zur metaphysik der sitten may on the wrongful publication of books von der unrechtmäßigkeit des bückernachdrucks in berlinische monats-schrift november on the definition of the concept of a human race Über die bestinmung des begriffs einer menschenrasse in berlinische monatsschrift mendelssohn morning hours 1784 785 1785-86 winter semester kant serves as dean mendelssohn-jacobi dispute also knows as the pantheism dispute

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