Problems with Religion and Politics 361the further spread of Kantian philosophy. Instead, he took it into a new
direction.
Kant had the deserved reputation of being a difficult writer, and there
were many disputes about who got Kant right. Fichte, for instance, got into
a dispute with an army captain in a guest house where he was staying. The
captain, who professed not to believe in immortality, appealed to Kant as
someone who supported his position, because he had only given a proba¬
bilistic proof of God's existence. Fichte burst out: "You did not read Kant!"
He argued that, if the captain had read Kant, he would have seen that Kant
had given a necessary proof.^124
At times, the occasions for a dispute were more mundane. On Decem¬
ber 9,1791, some time before 7:00 A.M., there was a commotion in Kant's
lecture hall about who could use one of the few tables, which were set aside
for students who took notes during Kant's lectures. Kant's amanuensis at
that time, one Johann Heinrich Lehmann, student of theology, tried to
mediate the dispute between the two students, but one of them attacked
and insulted Lehmann instead. Lehmann immediately went upstairs to
inform Kant, who instructed him to file a complaint with the rector. Be¬
fore beginning his lectures on metaphysics at 7:00, he warned his students,
saying that "nothing like this had ever happened in his auditorium, and that
if his students had such a dispute [again], they should take care of this on
the street; otherwise he would no longer give any lectures."^125 But, whether
mundane or otherwise, Kant's philosophy was apt to cause disputes, and
Kantians soon acquired the reputation of being especially quarrelsome.
Thus Maimon was very happy to have received Kant's own blessing, be¬
cause, he said, "there are some arrogant Kantians, who believe themselves
to be the sole proprietors of the Critical Philosophy, and therefore dispose
of every objection, even though not intended as a refutation, but as a fuller
elaboration of this philosophy, by the mere assertion... that the author
has failed to understand Kant."^126
The Beginning of a Conflict: "Daring Opinions"
In September 1791, Kant published an essay "On the Miscarriage of All
Philosophical Trials in Theodicy." It appears to have been written imme¬
diately after he finished with the third Critique, and it continued the treat¬
ment of the subject matter of religion that he had begun in the final sections
of that work. Kant tried to show that "every previous theodicy has failed
to perform what it promised, namely the vindication of the moral wisdom