The Elegant Magister 143pology as long as he lectured on this subject does not make them any less
dated. They must be understood as signs of the time, not as Kant's own
achievements. More importantly, perhaps, Kant later abandoned many of
the views he presented in this book. He found:
Among men there are but few who behave according to principles - which is extremely
good, as it can so easily happen that one errs in principles, and then the resulting
disadvantage extends all the further, the more universal the principle and the more
resolute the person who has set it before himself.^207
Principles are bad because they may exaggerate mistakes. "Indeed!" one
might be tempted to say in light of later developments. Kant's mature
moral philosophy depends on exactly the opposite point of view. How dif¬
ferent the gallant Magister was from his later self. Bright ideas might be
dangerous, but not as dangerous as bright ideas made into solid principles.