122 Kant: A Biographyproposal also requires a thorough knowledge of the world of children, which can be
acquired neither in the elegant nor in the academic world, all this seems so fantastic to
me that I would be in danger of getting a black eye on a fantastic ride just because I am
inclined to what is fantastic.^100Hamann insisted that a physics textbook for children must be based on the
biblical account of creation, and his help was predicated on Kant's con¬
version to Hamann's Christianity. His offer of assistance was thus not gen¬
uine but a kind of payback to Kant for trying to reconvert him. Hamann
was also teasing him with the notion of having to become "childlike," that
is, Christian. He himself assumed in several passages the role of the child,
asking Kant to have a "heart for children."^101
It is unsurprising, therefore, that Kant did not respond. Hamann, how¬
ever, found Kant's silence disconcerting. One of the reasons for this has
to do with another interesting development in Königsberg during 1759.
Daniel Weymann (1732—1795), a fervent admirer of Crusius, had defended
on October 6, 1759, a dissertation on "de mundo non Optimo" in order to
receive permission to lecture at the university. Kant published an advertise¬
ment of his lectures on October 7, entitled "An Essay on Certain Consid¬
erations Concerning Optimism." Kant's concern with such considerations
can be traced back to his drafts for a response to a question formulated for
an essay competition by the Berlin Academy in 1753.^102 The immediate
occasion for it was Weymann's dissertation. Outlining, "in some haste," a
number of remarks that he claimed would make it easier to understand the
dispute over the question whether or not this world is the best of all pos¬
sible worlds, he basically attacked Crusius's position against Leibniz, taking
the side of Mendelssohn and Lessing. Leibniz's doctrine that God cre¬
ated the best of all possible worlds was neither new nor unorthodox. What
was new was the use to which he put it in his proposed solution to the
problem of evil. Leibniz's use of the idea may be questionable, but the idea
itself made sense. Indeed, "not every extravagance of opinion deserves the
trouble of a careful refutation. If anybody were so bold as to assert that the
Supreme Wisdom could find the worse better than the best... I should
not waste my time in attempting a refutation. Philosophy is put to poor use
if it is employed in overturning the principles of sound reason, and it is
little honoured if it is found necessary to mobilise her forces in order to
refute such attempts."^103 Instead, Kant tried to prove that there is indeed
a possible world beyond which no better world can be thought. He did not
once mention Weymann, but it was clear enough to anyone in Königsberg
whom he had in mind. In any case, Weymann took the bait and published