Student and Private Teacher 67pared to the higher faculties.^27 Theology was undoubtedly the most im¬
portant of these. It had the most students, its teachers received the most
secure income, and its faculty was also the most influential. The school of
philosophy, more than those of law and medicine, was dominated by the¬
ology. Not only did several theologians teach philosophy, but theological
concerns also motivated many of the philosophers who were not theolo¬
gians themselves. During the first two-thirds of the eighteenth century,
philosophy at Königsberg was not much more than the handmaiden of
theology. How profoundly theological developments influenced the school
of philosophy can readily be seen from the history of these two disciplines
during the early part of the century. At its very beginning, the orientation
of philosophy was almost entirely Aristotelian.^28 Descartes and other mod¬
ern philosophers had very little influence on the way philosophy was taught.
They appear to have been important mainly as figures that needed to be
refuted. Indeed, most philosophy professors appear to have been engaged
in defending Aristotelianism against the various attacks that had been lev¬
eled against it.^29 The reason for this was that the orthodox Protestant
doctrine that was taught in the school of theology relied heavily on Aris¬
totelian doctrine. As the influence of orthodoxy waned in subsequent years,
Aristotelianism became less important. By the late thirties, most of its
adherents had disappeared. Yet when Kant entered the university there were
still Aristotelians teaching in the faculty, and Aristotelianism continued to
play a role.
As early as 1715, there were several philosophers engaged in trying to
find a middle way between traditional Protestant Aristotelianism and some
of the more recent philosophical developments, arguing that not all of
modern philosophy was bad. Thus Gottsched reported that during 1714 and
1715 he was taught philosophy in accordance with Cartesian principles
and natural law in accordance with Christian Thomasius (i655-i728).^30
Gottsched also claimed that he was exposed to other thinkers, such as
Locke and Leclerc, and that the spirit of free and open discussion pervaded
the university during that period. In any case, that is how Gottsched later
saw it. He emphasized that "the great freedom to philosophize that was
prevalent at the University of Königsberg during my period of study there
has protected me from the slavish way of thinking and teaching that was
so common in the dominant philosophical schools."^31 It was during this
period that Wolff's philosophy first became important at Königsberg.
J. H. Kreuschner, preacher at the Kneiphof church, had studied with Wolff
and was his first prominent adherent. Christoph Friedrich Baumgarten, a