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Intimate Diaries

Kant in the Café

Peter Mullen uncovers the personal secrets of philosophers.

I was in The Steaming Knicker in Stadtsbibliothek Strasse, my favourite coffee shop. When I say ‘I’, I mean of course that Thematic Unity of Apperception which is the consciousness of Immanuel Kant. I call it ‘the Thematic Unity of Apperception’ to facilitate comprehension.

Young Hermann, sitting again in the corner, enquired whether another cup of coffee would be liked by Immanuel Kant? “Affirmatively,” I answered, and reminded him: “Act only on that maxim which you could will to become a universal law.”

He replied, “That’s a pity, for I should like to buy you a cup of coffee; but now I’m scared to, because that would mean everyone in the world would be obliged to buy you a cup of coffee.

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