20 Kant: A Biographya deadly combination. Furthermore, Kant himself followed in his works
the motto "de nobis ipsis silemus" ("about ourselves we are silent"). He was
concerned with philosophical truth, and he wanted to be known for hav¬
ing advanced philosophical truths. This also has consequences for his bi¬
ography. There is no journal; the details about his life are sparse. They
have to be gleaned from what he let through by accident, and from the rec¬
ollections of those who were closest to him. Most of these are recollections
of older people about the older Kant.
Kant did have a life. Though he lived in an isolated part of Prussia,
though he did not undertake any thrilling journeys, though there are no
great adventures to be told, and though much of his life is summed up by
his work, there is still a highly interesting, and perhaps even exciting, story
to be told. This is the story of Kant's intellectual life, as it is reflected not
just in his work, but also in his letters, his teaching, and his interactions
with his contemporaries in Königsberg and the rest of Germany. Even if
Kant's life was to some extent typical of an eighteenth-century German
intellectual, it is of historical importance just because it was so typical. The
differences and similarities between his life and those of his colleagues in
other Protestant universities such as Marburg, Göttingen, and elsewhere
in Germany may open up interesting perspectives for understanding not
only the man but also the times in which he lived.
Kant's life spanned almost the entire eighteenth century. The period of
his adulthood saw some of the most significant changes in the Western
world - changes that still reverberate. This was the period during which
the world as we know it today originated. Though Königsberg was not at
the center of any of the significant movements leading to our world, these
movements largely determined the intellectual milieu of Königsberg. Kant's
philosophy was to a large extent an expression of and response to these
changes. His intellectual life reflected most of the significant intellectual,
political, and scientific developments of the period. His views are reac¬
tions to the cultural climate of the time. English and French philosophy,
science, literature, politics, and manners formed the stuff of his daily
conversations. Even such relatively distant events as the American and
French Revolutions had a definite effect on Kant, and thus also on his
work. His philosophy must be seen in this global context.
Yet it was within a definitely German, even Prussian, setting that Kant
experienced the momentous developments that took place during the
eighteenth century. Sometimes it is almost shocking to observe how much
of his intellectual development was dictated by outside forces. Thus Kant's