Editing Immanuel Kant (section)

===Young scholar===
Kant showed a great aptitude for study at an early age. He first attended the [[Collegium Fridericianum]], from which he graduated at the end of the summer of 1740. In 1740, aged 16, he enrolled at the [[University of Königsberg]], where he would later remain for the rest of his professional life.<ref>''The American International Encyclopedia'' (New York: J.J. Little & Ives, 1954), Vol. IX.</ref> He studied the philosophy of [[Gottfried Leibniz]] and [[Christian Wolff (philosopher)|Christian Wolff]] under [[Martin Knutzen]] (Associate Professor of Logic and Metaphysics from 1734 until he died in 1751), a [[rationalism|rationalist]] who was also familiar with developments in British philosophy and science and introduced Kant to the new mathematical physics of [[Isaac Newton]]. Knutzen dissuaded Kant from the theory of [[pre-established harmony]], which he regarded as "the pillow for the lazy mind".<ref>{{cite book|title=What the Tortoise Taught Us: The Story of Philosophy|url=https://archive.org/details/whattortoisetaug00port|url-access=limited|last=Porter|first=Burton|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers|year=2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/whattortoisetaug00port/page/n145 133]}}</ref> He also dissuaded Kant from [[idealism]], the idea that reality is purely mental, which most philosophers in the 18th century regarded negatively. The theory of [[transcendental idealism]] that Kant later included in the ''[[Critique of Pure Reason]]'' was developed partially in opposition to traditional idealism. Kant had contacts with students, colleagues, friends and diners who frequented the local [[Masonic lodge]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/9c2c6b4d-7481-4e73-b443-bf29054680c2/497779.pdf|title=Die Freimaurer im Alten Preußen 1738–1806|language=de|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201119104900/https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/id/9c2c6b4d-7481-4e73-b443-bf29054680c2/497779.pdf|archive-date=19 November 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

His father's stroke and subsequent death in 1746 interrupted his studies. Kant left Königsberg shortly after August 1748;{{sfn|Kuehn|2001|p=94}} he would return there in August 1754.{{sfn|Kuehn|2001|p=98}} He became a private tutor in the towns surrounding Königsberg, but continued his scholarly research. In 1749, he published his first philosophical work, ''[[Thoughts on the True Estimation of Living Forces]]'' (written in 1745–1747).<ref>Eric Watkins (ed.), ''Immanuel Kant: Natural Science'', Cambridge University Press, 2012: [http://assets.cambridge.org/97805213/63945/excerpt/9780521363945_excerpt.pdf "Thoughts on the true estimation..."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307213516/http://assets.cambridge.org/97805213/63945/excerpt/9780521363945_excerpt.pdf |date=7 March 2016 }}.</ref>