The Elegant Magister 129from his garden.^129 Kant lived and taught in the so-called Magister's alley
(Magistergasse or Magisterstraße), much closer to the university.^130 This was
traditionally a street on which many among the faculty at the university
lived. We may assume that Kant grew neither carrots nor onions; as a cit¬
izen of both the academic and the elegant world he would have had neither
the time nor the inclination to do so. Instead, he enjoyed life as the elegant
Magister. There were times when, having enjoyed conversation and wine
a little too much, he had difficulty "finding the entrance (Loch) into the
Magister's alley."^131
When not invited to dinner, Kant ate at Gerlach's, a "billiard house in
Kneiphof," close to where he lived. Borowski points out that during his
"earlier years he went from lunch, after finishing his lectures, to a coffee
house, had conversations about the events of the day there or played a game
of billiards. At that time he also loved to play a game of l'hombre at par¬
ties in the evening because he believed it activated his mind."^132 This was
followed by a long walk, often in the company of friends or students, whom
he asked to join him after he had finished lecturing for the day. Again, the
topics of conversation were not necessarily scholarly but ranged far and
wide.^133 After coming home, he continued to work, doing mostly his read¬
ing. Often, of course, he was invited to friends and acquaintances in the
evening, hence his occasional difficulties in finding his way home.
Herder, on the whole agreeing with Borowski's earlier account of Kant's
teaching, reported that his
lectures were the most entertaining talks. His mind, which examined Leibniz, Wolff,
Baumgarten, Crusius, and Hume, and investigated the laws of nature of Newton,
Kepler, and the physicists, comprehended equally the newest works of Rousseau...
and the latest discovery in science. He weighed them all, and always came back to the
unbiased knowledge of nature and to the moral worth of man.^134
Kant was thirty-eight when Herder studied with him, and Herder always
thought that these were Kant's best years. Long after the two had a falling
out, Herder raved: "more than thirty years ago I knew a youth, the origi¬
nator of the critical philosophy himself, and I attended all his lectures, some
repeatedly, during the years of his greatest flourishing."^135 He
had the most cheerful sprightliness of a youth ... his open brow, made for thinking
was the seat of clarity; and the most profound and pleasant speech came from his elo¬
quent mouth. Jest, wit, and caprice were in his command - but always at the right time
so that everyone laughed. His public lecture was like an entertaining conversation. He
spoke about his author, thought on his own, and often beyond the author. During the