An entertaining novel about the philosopher Immanuel Kant and the abysses of the Enlightenment.
When former soldier Martin Lampe enters the service of the young philosopher Immanuel Kant, a struggle between master and servant begins. Lampe performs an idiosyncratic way of subtle resistance: On the surface he plays the fool, but in reality he tries to show up the famous philosopher by devious means and gradually drives him mad. Soon, the servant Lampe and his master become a bizarre, town-famous couple.
But Kant‘s good friend Ehregott Wasianski, who will later become known as Kant’s first biographer, also has his plans. These are aimed primarily at warding off the danger of Kant’s marriage, for that would mean the end of the philosopher’s work of genius.
The author stages a game of confusion in which historical facts and intertextual cross fadings merge into one another. And so this novel offers not only entertainment, but also a philosophically inspired look into the abysses of the Enlightenment.
