"All-Crushing" Critic of Metaphysics 269acuity."^78 He also said that he really did not like such ostentatious expres¬
sion of approval, "but what can one do, if one's friends like to think dif¬
ferent." Hamann wrote on March 25 that "the golden coin, which was given
to Kant last Wednesday, has 1723 instead of 1724 as the year of his birth,
and there are a number of other little things that diminished his joy about
the honor given to him."^79 One may hope that the joy in Schulz's book
was less adulterated. In any case, the book was published late in 1784 un¬
der the title Exposition of Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, with the author's
name spelled "Schultz" rather than "Schulz." Kant had a defender — at
least in Königsberg.
His Own House (1783):
"Quite Romantic," but "Close to a Prison"On December 30, 1783, after having lived in rented quarters for all of his
adult life, Kant bought a house of his own. He felt that he could now af¬
ford it, but he must also have felt that he needed it more than ever. Rent¬
ing meant occasional moves. When and why would not always be up to
him, and this meant a certain lack of security. It meant that Kant was not
master of his own affairs in some fundamental respects. At fifty-nine, Kant
was finally ready to change this. Having achieved autonomy in matters
intellectual, Kant was also intent upon becoming autonomous in more
concrete ways — and it was high time, as old age was not far off. Kant's pur¬
chase was also a way of preparing for his declining years.
The house Kant bought had belonged to a portrait painter named Becker,
who had recently died. Hippel, whose own property bordered on Becker's,
was instrumental in the deal. He told Kant that the property was for sale,
and he wrote to Kant on December 24, the day before Christmas, that he
had found out that the house was not yet sold, and that if Kant were to
make an offer, he would probably be successful.^80 Kant acted right away.
Indeed, he wrote down notes and questions about what had to be done on
Hippel's very letter. Thus he asked whether there was only one stove in
the house, where precisely the borderlines of the property lay, whether he
should take out a wall between two smaller rooms and the room that was
to become the lecture room, and when the house would be free. The an¬
swer to the last question was: "in March." Kant made notes about the costs
of the necessary renovation on the back of a short letter, dated February
21, 1784. Work appears to have begun at that time. By the end of April,