r/interesting • u/Lopsided_Bar3451 • Aug 29 '26
HISTORY Immanuel Kant was so committed to his routine that people supposedly set their clocks by his daily walks
This brother was a philosopher and I don't like his philosophy.
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u/formerlynerd Aug 29 '26
He just kant
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u/NearsightedNomad Aug 29 '26
You Kant be serious…
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u/Belvedere48 Aug 29 '26
I am serious, and don't be a kant.
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u/lemonipickel Aug 29 '26
Morning 5:00 AM: Woke up. His servant, Martin Lampe, woke him up. 5:00 AM – 7:00 AM: Drank one or two cups of weak tea. Smoked a single tobacco pipe while meditating. Prepared his lectures and did some writing. 7:00 AM – 11:00 AM: Taught classes and gave university lectures. Afternoon11:00 AM – 1:00 PM: Read, wrote, or prepared further work after his university duties. 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM: Ate lunch, which was his main and only large meal of the day. He ate at a public restaurant or pub, often hosting guests and conversing about politics or current events rather than philosophy. 4:00 PM – 5:00 PM (or 7:00 PM): Went on his famous daily walk (The Philosopher's Walk). He walked the exact same route alone so the changing scenery would not distract his thoughts. Neighbors were said to set their watches by his punctuality. Evening 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM: Spent time reading, light working, or conversing with his close friend Joseph Green. 10:00 PM: Went to bed precisely on time.
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u/VegaJuniper Aug 29 '26
Drank one or two cups of weak tea
One OR two? So basically the man had no routine at all.
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u/Working_Estate_3695 Aug 29 '26
Erratic, even.
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u/Just_a_square Aug 29 '26
An unreliable buffoon.
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u/Imaginary-Matter8602 Aug 29 '26
A torrent of chaos
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u/PrestigiousBad4266 Aug 30 '26
I hear he sometimes takes a later philosopher’s walk as well!
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u/Working_Estate_3695 Aug 30 '26
It’s absolute chaos and I can’t stand another moment of his unpredictability. It’s bordering on mental cruelty.
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u/DarkAri639 Aug 30 '26 edited Sep 14 '26
This is the amount of tea I like 2 cups of not as sweet tea. It's just the right amount of sugar and caffeine to make your brain happy but not make it tired.
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u/DadGamer77 Aug 29 '26
Legend
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u/lemonipickel Aug 29 '26
It's actually s pretty good routine.
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u/dm-me-obscure-colors Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
It really sounds like paradise
All these idiots saying he’s autistic… I’m not autistic at all but I can absolutely dig that life
e: now that Reddit has diagnosed my autism, I finally know so much more about myself! Thanks, internet psychic psychiatrists!
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u/Jocuro Aug 29 '26
It sounds like he ate at different places and presumably different food every day. That doesn't say autistic to me. I don't think having a set sleep schedule is particularly unusual in a time before computers. The most odd thing he did was go on the same walk everyday alone, but at most maybe he was introverted and needed some recovery time.
Idk about these reddit doctors, man.
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u/dm-me-obscure-colors Aug 30 '26
It may be he had a person he’d visit. I also think a lot of the people here have no idea what the academic life is like
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u/Viktor_Laszlo Aug 29 '26
I’d like to know how he decided on this exact routine. Was there a long process of trial and error? Did he try a morning coffee and found he was bouncing off the walls too much? Did he try three cups of tea and it increased his trips to the bathroom by an amount that was too unpredictable? Did he do anything special on his birthday? Two tobacco pipes, for instance?
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u/throwaway19276i Aug 30 '26
He had two strong cups of tea instead of one weak one for his birthday. Very bold.
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u/Fun_Pound5629 Aug 29 '26
4-5 or 7PM? People setting their clocks to him must have been waking up 2 hours late for work going “that utter Kant has done it again! Why did we even reset the clock it was fine where are my breeches?!”
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u/MadButthole Aug 30 '26
Conversing with his “close friend” Joseph green at night and never married eh?
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u/rabotat Aug 30 '26
The most pleasant thing is how he has a servant to do all his chores. Note how there's nothing on scrubbing the toilet or cooking his own meals.
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u/Casual_necromancy Aug 29 '26
"tell my wife i said "hello". "
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u/_BlockedUser_ Aug 29 '26
Tell her, I love her... discipline
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u/ForeignRestaurant290 Aug 29 '26
It's fine.
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u/HeartOn_SoulAceUp Aug 29 '26
LOL.
Farewell... Immanuel, it is fine, and a change might do you good.
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u/fuzzybad Aug 29 '26
What makes a man turn neutral? Lust for gold? Power? Or was he just born with a heart full of neutrality?
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u/Sausage_bowler Aug 29 '26
Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable, Heidegger, Heidegger was a boozy beggar who could think you under the table, David Hume could out-consume Schopenhauer and Hegel, And Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as schloshed as Schlegel! (Monty Python)
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u/3d1thF1nch Aug 29 '26
Nothin Nietzsche couldn’t teach ya bout the raising of the wrist
Socrates himself was permanently pisssssed….5
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u/Jazzlike_Math_8350 Aug 29 '26
I spent a good portion of my day today trying to think of the definition of pissant, and just arrived at 'general term of disrespect'. I forgot to look it up, so thanks for the reminder and confirming I was about there
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u/Kitchen-Tomatillo-97 Aug 29 '26
The force (tisms) was strong with this one
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u/Pristine-Pass-6595 Aug 29 '26
Never changing your diet and daily habits feels more like an OCD thing, but they do overlap in symptoms and the point stands
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u/0peRightBehindYa Aug 29 '26
bUt AuTiSm DiDn'T eXiSt 50 yEaRs AgO....
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u/NoxImpulsexControl Aug 29 '26
And gravity didn’t exist until it was “discovered “
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u/OnionMesh Aug 30 '26
I used to think Kant was likely autistic, but after reading a biography of him, I no longer think it’s easy to say so. It’s hard to summarize decades of his life in a short comment, but I can spell out a few things about why his life was so regimented:
1) His good friend, Joseph Green, was the one that chose the time at which he and other friends would meet and go on a walk.
2) Kant was a professor and lectured a lot. He generally had a busy day when his university was in session.
3) Kant had his servant wake him up early for the sake of getting prepared in time for his morning lectures. Kant didn’t like waking up early in the morning, though.
So the main conclusion I took from his life regarding his daily schedule (once he returned to his hometown after leaving to tutor for a few years) was that it wasn’t exactly that Kant loved a daily schedule and chose to live a regimented lite but rather that external circumstances led him to live a very regular life for many years.
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u/AntiPepRally Aug 29 '26
The world's tyrants were probably on the spectrum. One slight = OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
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u/thisismypornaccountg Aug 29 '26
This factoid is frequently posted but is not true. He left his town for years. He frequently partied early in his life too. It was only later in life he developed very rigid habits. Also his last words were “das ist gud,” which very obviously translates to “it is good.” None of what was posted is true.
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u/jaavuori24 Aug 29 '26
Kant was a brilliant thinker and also an utter racist who preached his racism in lectures for like 40 years despite having colleagues of color. I was sad to learn this about him.
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u/NuruYetu Aug 29 '26
He did have a change of heart in the 1790s if that can make it better. He kept the concept of race but stopped ranking them when he worked out his political philosophy on the rights of man. Possibly because the hypocrisy became too glaring, possibly because of the news of the Haitian Revolution spreading across Europe.
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u/Interesting-Wish5977 Aug 29 '26
It’s almost like never leaving your hometown narrows your mind.
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u/PhotoElectrical Aug 29 '26
proof kant was highly autistic
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u/AidanGreb Aug 29 '26
That is what I was suspecting. I do not think he was bored!
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u/Guacamole_Gamerfart1 Aug 29 '26
We do, but routines are calming rather than boring to us.
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u/PsykoSmiley Aug 29 '26
Also expend less effort. We only have so many fucks and it's far easier maintain those by being safe and predictable and using the fucks where it actually counts to us.
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u/Rubyhamster Aug 29 '26
When joined with ADHD it surely is a clash of the titans... Uncomfortable to be outside of routine, but that routine still has to contain a fair amount of novelty and thinking, and still not change any plans and atthe same time a sudden change of plansare exiting but leaves you exhausted the next day.
Just to paint a picture: One of the most comfortable situations I can find myself in is to sit plumped up by coushions in the sofa gaming a favourite RPG survival game on my laptop while one of my comfort action movies/series is playing on the TV in the background. Perfect balance
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u/AidanGreb Aug 30 '26
Makes me think of my autistic dad. As an example: He has eaten the exact same salad with the exact same salad dressing for the last 40 years every day. If you were to suggest that he try a different salad dressing the very idea of it would cause him immediate distress!
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u/thisismypornaccountg Aug 29 '26 edited Aug 29 '26
Err…no. The factoid isn’t true. He did leave his town for years at one point. He also partied a lot in his youth. He only developed the rigid lifestyle later in life. His final words were “das ist gut.” That’s very obviously not “fine.”
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u/Delicious_Pain_1 Aug 29 '26
How do I get this job?
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u/Hoplophilia Aug 29 '26
Say thoughts people are willing to pay for. The market has been shrinking rapidly of late.
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u/dkinmn Aug 29 '26
I am going to work like hell to make sure my last words are, "You must find the amulet before..." or, "The key to the safe is buried 50 places from the safe. Don't open it alone or..."
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u/therocketn00b Aug 29 '26
This answers the question: Can Immanuel change his habits?
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u/OnionMesh Aug 30 '26
There’s a few things said in the post that I want to further qualify:
1) This picture is of Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Kant’s contemporary and critic.
2) Kant did leave Koenigsberg (only once, though). After he finished his university studies, he left the town and worked as a tutor for wealthier families.
3) Kant did not marry because a) although twice he had found a woman he would have liked to proposed to, this was still while he was an unsalaried lecturer i.e. he didn’t have the money to provide for a wife; and b) he was turned off from marriage because the wife of one of his friends had an affair. So the timing just didn’t work out for him and he was never in a rush to marry.
4) His regular schedule was in part dictated by his university duties and the people he wanted to spend time with: Kant lectured a lot, his friend Joseph Green always wanted to meet at a specific time, and he would regularly be invited to dinner by a noble family. Kant didn’t simply choose to live his life on a very regular schedule: he simply just had many responsibilities to uphold, and this greatly influenced how he spent his time.
5) In his old age, Kant didn’t live the greatest life. He was terribly constipated, his memory wained, and it took far more effort for him to think. He was a bit depressed since he had either outlived many of his close friends, or that some people that were once close to him eventually grew apart. He struggled to speak at times and could hardly write. Also, his servant did something that terribly offended him (it’s not clear what, since Kant did not say). So, in the final years of his life, he did not live in great health or happiness. However, he was satisfied with his life’s work, so it’s safe to say he probably died without any major regrets.
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u/ResolutionFar1361 Aug 29 '26
He had some interesting philosophical ideas, then I found out he was a hermit and made me pause
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u/Afraid_Piglet7990 Aug 29 '26
Kant was the opposite of a hermit. He was extremely social and would often throw parties.
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u/Firefly_deadlock Aug 29 '26
Name one. I read up on him for a whole 10 minutes and it's pure nonsense so far.
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u/ResolutionFar1361 Aug 29 '26
I studied him in college over a decade ago so forgive me if i Kant recall it off the top of my head. But from what I remember he argued knowledge comes from both rationalism and empiricism. Before him I believe they where separate schools of thought
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u/Firefly_deadlock Aug 29 '26
That's actually pretty interesting. I never got that far into it. I mostly know him as THE deontologist and i'm not a very big fan of that line of thinking.
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u/ffsTeki Aug 29 '26
In the world of philosophy, excluding the classical greeks, Kant is The philosopher. His works basically revolutionized philosophy and influented literally every major philosopher after him. He is also very influential even today regarding metaphysics, epistemology, and ethics.
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u/Firefly_deadlock Aug 29 '26
I can't shake the feeling he's smart in the way my autistic uncle who never moved out of his moms house and owned 10.000 books was smart. Bit of a deontologist as well that guy.
I'm like 50 percent joking here.
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u/darkness_calming Aug 29 '26
Weird thought but
If he never left his hometown, never had the usual human experiences, never had a relationship….
Why did people listen to him when he spoke about the world? He had never even experienced what world had to offer. Where was his authority on such things coming from?
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u/Capital-Sorbet-387 Aug 29 '26
Because he has a unique mind, was a great reasoner and could learn knowledge about the world through books.
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u/Daily_Heroin_User Aug 30 '26
Because he wasn’t speaking about those particular things. He was doing philosophical reasoning that you don’t need to go on vacations and date and shit to reason out. He wasn’t trying to be Rick Steves or Tony Robbins.
There are plenty of people who travel the world and have a million relationships who aren’t good philosophers.
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u/PreferenceContent987 Aug 29 '26
I need to learn more about this guy. I wonder how his gut health was
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u/Friendcherisher Aug 29 '26
We will all know what his mind was like though. Read his illustrious Critique of Pure Reason.
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u/an-abnormality Aug 29 '26
He sounds based. I change literally nothing in my daily routine unless something forces me to
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u/Working_Estate_3695 Aug 29 '26
The existential question was: “Are you an Immanuel Can, or an Immanuel Kant?”
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u/9fingerjeff Aug 29 '26
Monty python taught me Immanuel Kant was a real pissant who was very rarely stable.
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u/Influx_ink Aug 29 '26
Dude lived the Tism fairytale dream. If uncrustables had been invented in his lifespan he would have truly wanted for nothing. It's said that at his death his body vanished like yoda.
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u/yami_no_ko Aug 29 '26
He was among those lucky enough not having to see how relentlessly dumb people can get.
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u/crylol91 Aug 29 '26
Secondo me era in pace con sé stesso ma come chiunque che ha vissuto e visto tutto intorno a sé però chissà se avrebbe voluto fare o vedere altro... chissà
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u/_Clit-Commander_ Aug 29 '26
This is what I am striving for, partially, specifically for the diet thing. I wouldn’t mind if my meals were exactly the same everyday but I just need to find the perfect meals that hit all the macros and micros for the day as well as fiber and all that.
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u/Skamandrios Aug 29 '26
I see this painting almost every time someone posts about Kant. That’s not him.
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u/brazthemad Aug 29 '26
Boomers - "we didn't have no autism in my day!"
The Ghost of Immanuel Kant - "bet?"
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u/SlayerII Aug 29 '26
"Autism doesn't exist, it didn't exist in the past"
Meanwhile the in the past:
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u/Unluckymama Aug 29 '26
I remember in school how boredom to read this guy was. Descartes, Plato and Nietzsche were super fun and interesting.
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u/NotoriousPete Aug 29 '26
Found it really interesting that he never left his home town. Well turns out that is just completely made up.
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u/Lucky_Dragonfruit_88 Aug 29 '26
Kant is always my counter-argument to the "travel makes you interesting" crowd.
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u/Cultural-Company282 Aug 29 '26
Exhibit 1 to the "Is there more autism today, or is it just more frequently diagnosed" question.
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