Kant: A BiographyCholera" or a hidden choleric streak. Furthermore, though he might have
been willing to compromise in theology between Pietism and Wolffian ra¬
tionalism, he was uncompromising in his pursuit of the common goals of
Halle Pietism and Berlin Absolutism. He not only had studied theology in
Halle and therefore been deeply influenced by Francke, but also had con¬
tinued to study with Wolff, and his theology constituted an attempt to
synthesize Pietistic and Wolffian ideas, or perhaps better, to formulate
Pietistic ideas using Wolffian terminology and methods.^45 It was through
him that Wolffian philosophy, still officially prohibited in Prussia, gained
a wider recognition at the university.^46 Schulz was very much in tune with
the government in Berlin. There had been a development in the king's
views on Wolff. Frederick William I had begun to appreciate his philoso¬
phy. After reading some of his work, he no longer believed Wolffian phi¬
losophy and Pietism to be contradictory. Thus he tried to get Wolff to
come back to Prussia, and he even went so far as to order all students of
theology to study Wolff: "They must be thoroughly grounded in philos¬
ophy and in a sound logic after the example of professor Wolff."^47 Schulz
was thus the right man at the right time. His political instincts were just
as sound as his theological ones.
This new development had important consequences for the Königsberg
Pietism that Kant's parents and Kant himself encountered. It was derived
from Halle Pietism, but was less "enthusiastic" than the latter, having a
Wolffian and thus a more "rationalistic" outlook.^48 Schulz was opposed to
an all-too-enthusiastic religiosity.^49 Just as Francke had significantly mod¬
ified Spener's doctrine, at least in order to take advantage of the opportu¬
nities that presented themselves in Prussia, so Schulz modified Francke's
views under the influence of a different environment and a different time;
Königsberg Pietism cannot simply be identified with Halle Pietism. It was
of a strange variety and in many ways closer to the philosophy of the ortho¬
dox party than their disputes would suggest: their school philosopher was
not Aristotle, but Wolff.
Schulz's actions were often determined just as much by the political
demands of the king in Berlin as by concern for the spiritual well-being
of the citizens of Königsberg. Indeed, it appears that he and his followers
often found it difficult to separate these two concerns, and under Schulz,
Lutheran pastors became more like schoolmasters than preachers. The
teaching of the basics of Christianity became ever more closely combined
with the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Not surprisingly,
therefore, Schulz soon made enemies — and not just among those opposed