Founder of a Metaphysics of Morals 325the friendship of the two men was intimate and close can already be seen from the
fact that professor Kraus was Kant's companion at table until Kraus set up his own
household.^231Yet this is somewhat misleading. Kraus was "not a guest at Kant's table;
he ate there every day and he paid his part." Furthermore, it "did not last
very long," and the reason was not so much that Kraus set up his own
household, but rather that the two had a falling out.^232
Kant's social dinners were also a way of combating loneliness. They
were the high points of his day, and he always anxiously awaited his guests.
Usually three or four of his friends were invited, and sometimes — espe¬
cially in later years — Kant invited those who had come to see the famous
philosopher in Königsberg. Hasse described how he waited for his guests
at 1 :oo P.M., often still sitting at his work desk, but sometimes already turned
toward the door:
Wherever or however he was sitting, his face was clear, his eyes lively and his demeanor
friendly, even if he did not quite fulfill the anxious expectation of those who saw him
for the first time. And when he talked, he uttered oracles indeed and was bewitching.
Now he reminded his servant to serve, handed out himself the silver spoons from his
secretary, and was hurrying with everything he had to say to the table. His guests pre¬
ceded him to the dining room, which was just as unadorned and simple as the other
rooms. One sat down without ceremony, and when someone was getting ready to say
grace or to pray, he interrupted them by telling them to sit down. Everything was neat
and clean. Only three dishes, but excellently prepared and very tasty, two bottles of
wine, and when in season there was fruit and dessert. Everything had its determinate
order. After the soup was served and almost eaten, the meat - usually beef that was
especially tender - was carved. He took it, like most dishes, with English mustard,
which he prepared himself. The second dish had to be one of his favorite foods (almost
every day the same thing). He ate so long and so much of this until his last days that
he filled up his belly with it, as he said. Of the roast beef and the third dish, he ate little.
When he was taking his soup, and he found the meat in it nice and tender, he was ex¬
tremely happy (and if not, he complained and was somewhat upset); and then he said:
Now, my gentlemen and friends! Let us also talk a little. What's new?
He preferred that the mealtime was devoted to relaxation and liked to disregard
learned matters. At times he even cut off such associations. He most loved to talk about
political things. Indeed, he almost luxuriated in them. He also wanted to converse
about city news and matters of common life.^233
This could take a long time. Someone who visited him during the nineties
observed that "Kant could sit till seven or eight in the evening, if only some¬
one stayed with him."^234 Kraus, on whom Kant relied most for company
during this period, was often the one who stayed.