ii2 Kant: A Biographya lecture he had attended ... Kant claimed that he really did not need the money. Still,
every fifteen minutes he came back to the point that the young man would not appear.
A few days later he came. Kant was so disappointed that, when the student asked
whether he could be one of his opponents at the upcoming defense, he did not accept
him, saying: "You might not keep your word, not come to the defense, and thus spoil
everything!"^60The defense was that of Kant's PhysicalMonadology on April 21,1756, where
Borowski was one of the opponents.^61
Funk was an extremely interesting character, leading what might be called
a loose life. He also gave lectures in jurisprudence. Hippel, who studied
with him during the relevant period, observed that he learned more from
him than from those with greater titles:Just because he had to live off his lecturing, he was by far the best among the teachers
(Magister). Even at that time it appeared to me that the gentlemen in having other
positions (Nebenstellen) had one or more concubines besides their betrothed wife. My
good old Funk, who had married the widow of professor Knutzen, someone very fa¬
mous in his own time, was not without a resting bench besides his conjugal bed, but
his lectures were as chaste as the bed of a cleric.^62
Apparently, Funk was popular not only with his students, but also "with
the ladies." In this he contrasted sharply with his wife's first husband, who
lived, as someone put it, the life of a "complete pedant."^63
Kant and his friends had varied interests, and the circles they moved in
were neither those of the Pietists nor even those of the more conservative
Wolffians. Not only their views, but also their lives were less constrained
than theirs. During these years, "Kant was not bound by firm dietetic rules,
and he did many things just for pleasure."^64 The next few years accentuated
this trend.The Russian Occupation (1758-1762): "A Man who Loves
Truth as Much as the Tactfulness of Good Society"While Königsberg was relatively quiet, there had been war. Frederick had
marched into Saxony with 61,000 men on August 29, 1756. The ensuing
Seven-Year War, proved costly for Prussia. When the Prussian army lost
a battle at Groß Jägersdorf against the Russians, they had to give up Königs¬
berg. Luckily, there was no fighting in Königsberg itself. On January 22,
1758, with all church bells ringing, the Russian general William of Fermor
marched into Königsberg and occupied the castle, which the Prussian field
marshal had left not long before. The Prussian administration together