26 Kant: A BiographyUniversity of Königsberg of the most outspoken advocate of Wolffian
philosophy. Christian Gabriel Fischer (1686—1751), professor of natural phi¬
losophy, met with the same fate as Wolff because Rogall informed on him
in Berlin.^2
On April 22 of this year Immanuel Kant was born in Königsberg. The
Old Prussian Almanac associated the name "Emanuel" with this date. Ac¬
cordingly, he was baptized "Emanuel." He would later change it to "Im¬
manuel," thinking that this was a more faithful rendition of the original
Hebrew. "Emanuel" or "Immanuel" means "God is with him." Kant
thought that it was a most appropriate name, and he was uncommonly
proud of it, commenting on its meaning even in his old age.^3 It is perhaps
meaningful that he found it necessary critically to evaluate and correct the
very name given to him, but it is noteworthy that the literal meaning of his
name provided him with comfort and confidence throughout his life. In¬
deed, Kant's autonomous, self-reliant, and self-made character may well
presuppose a certain kind of optimistic trust in the world as a teleological
whole, a world in which everything, himself included, had a definite place.
Emanuel was the son of Johann Georg Kant (1683—1746), a master har¬
ness maker in Königsberg, and Anna Regina Kant (1697—1737), nee Reuter,
the daughter of another harness maker in Königsberg. Johann Georg Kant
had come to Königsberg from Tilsit. His marriage to Anna Regina on No¬
vember 13, 1715, opened the way for him to make a living as an indepen¬
dent tradesman.^4 Such craftsmen had to belong to a guild. Since the guilds
strictly regulated the numbers of those who could open a business within
a city, marriage to a master's daughter was often the only way for someone
from the outside to break into the trade. One became an independent
master tradesman in one of only two ways: either by being born a master's
son or by marrying a master's daughter. Anna Regina herself was the daugh¬
ter of Caspar Reuter and his wife Regina, nee Felgenhauer (or Falken¬
hauer).^5 Caspar Reuter had also come from outside the city, namely from
Nürnberg, which had old trade connections with Königsberg.^6
A master had to have produced a "master piece" and to have obtained
the right of citizenship within the city in which he conducted his business.
This usually meant that he had to own real estate within the city (or at least
belong to a family that did). More importantly, he had to be registered in
a local guild whose special laws and customs applied to him and his entire
family from the moment he entered it. To enter a guild, proof of legitimate
birth of both the master and his wife had to be supplied. Traditionally, the
guilds were largely independent of public authorities, and they tended to