Childhood and Early Youth 49philosophy, while Emanuel was most interested in the classics.^86 Emanuel,
David, and Johannes Cunde, another friend, together read classic authors
outside of class, supplementing the meager reading list of their school.
Ruhnken, who had more money than either of his two poor friends, bought
the books. Already thinking of authorship, they planned to call themselves
by Latinised names: Kantius, Ruhnkenius, and Cundeus.^87 Kant continued
to think highly of the ancients, reading them throughout his life. Seneca
and perhaps somewhat surprisingly Lucretius and Horace remained his
favorites, but he also knew other classical Latin writers well. Borowski and
others report that even in his old age Kant could recite from memory long
passages of the works that he especially liked.^88 His interest in Greek lit¬
erature was somewhat less intense. Only a few Greek words appear in his
published writings, and he never used any Greek as a motto for his books.
This does not imply that he could not read Greek. Nor does it mean that
he was not interested in Greek philosophy. In fact, quite the opposite is
true. As we shall see, it was his rediscovery of the Greeks and their philo¬
sophical project that helped him to clarify his own views at a crucial time
in his philosophical development.
It is no surprise that Kant's favorite teacher was one who taught him
Latin. His name was Heydenreich.^89 While he had nothing to say about
any of his other teachers, Kant praised Heydenreich even late in his life.
This "good" man not only fostered Kant's love of the classical Latin au¬
thors, but was also responsible for much of his knowledge of antiquity, and
he was thankful to him for trying to teach him to think clearly.^90 When
Kant later complained that it would be better if the schools taught "the
spirit" and not merely "the phrases" of authors, he did not mean to direct
this against Heydenreich. This teacher was someone who approached
Kant's ideal and inspired him and his friends to study Latin authors even
outside of class.
There were also classes in geography and history, but they were not of
primary importance. Furthermore, since instruction in history was in good
part concerned with the history of the Old and New Testaments, it seemed
to the students to be an extension of religious instruction. Calligraphy, or
the art of writing beautiful script, does not appear to have been very much
to Kant's liking. It was the only subject in which he was demoted to a lower
class from a higher.
French was not a required subject. Students could take it in three op¬
tional classes on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Kant did. While the classes
did not aim at making the students fluent in the language, they were intended