The „All-Crusher“ Myth and the Grand Illusion of Immanuel Kant

Deconstructing the Mandarin of Königsberg #9

Over the past eight weeks, we have undertaken an uncompromising, evidence-based expedition through the intellectual fortress of Immanuel Kant. We dismantled the myth of the scientific genius, exposing his physical and cosmological errors. We revealed that his „awakening from dogmatic slumber“ was a strategic retreat to protect Lutheran morality from empirical skepticism. We showed how his „Copernican Revolution“ was, in fact, a solipsistic Ptolemaic relapse that trapped human cognition inside its own subjective simulation. We put the Categorical Imperative on trial, uncovering its anti-empathetic, authoritarian nature, and exposed the theological „God-Bias“ that led Kant to formulate an explicit hierarchy of intellectual racism. Finally, we introduced Mario Bunge’s Agathonism as a secular, scientifically grounded compass for the 21st century.

Yet, as we conclude the core of this series and look back at the sheer volume of memes and myths that have insulated Kant’s legacy—especially within the German-speaking cultural sphere—one overarching myth still demands a definitive deconstruction. It is the ultimate title bestowed upon Kant by academia: Kant, the „All-Crusher“ (Der Alleszermalmer).

The Legend of the „All-Crusher“

In university lectures and standard histories of philosophy, Kant is routinely celebrated as the Alleszermalmer—the relentless intellectual giant who decisively crushed the outdated, dogmatic metaphysics of his predecessors. This intimidating title suggests an unparalleled philosophical brilliance, a thinker who single-handedly demolished the old world to build a new era of critical reason.

The origin of this legendary epithet is invariably traced back to Moses Mendelssohn, one of the most prominent Jewish Enlightenment philosophers of the 18th century. The standard narrative claims that Mendelssohn, in awe of Kant’s devastating critique of traditional metaphysics, respectfully bowed to Kant’s destructive genius, christening him the „all-crushing Kant.“

There is only one problem with this narrative: It is a complete historical distortion.

When we examine the actual letters and texts of Moses Mendelssohn, we discover that the title „All-Crusher“ was not a professional assessment of Kant’s philosophical superiority. It was an expression of deep medical frustration and intellectual exhaustion.

The Medical Reality Behind the Myth

To understand the true context, we must look at the correspondence between Kant and Mendelssohn, and Mendelssohn’s final work, Morgenstunden (1785).

When Kant published the Critique of Pure Reason in 1781, it was met with total public silence. Desperate to generate academic discourse, Kant specifically targeted Mendelssohn, sending him a dedicated copy and hoping the famous Berliner would champion the work. But Mendelssohn laid the book aside.

In a letter to Kant in April 1783, Mendelssohn finally explained why: he was suffering from a severe „nervous weakness“ (Nervenschwäche). This neurological and psychological exhaustion made rigorous mental exertion impossible for him. He confessed to Kant that he had been „dead to metaphysics“ for years, noting that reading the complex thoughts of others had become even more difficult for him than generating his own. He referred to Kant’s Critique not as a brilliant revelation, but as a „work that consumes the nervous fluid“ (Nervensaft verzehrendes Werk).

Two years later, in the introduction to Morgenstunden, Mendelssohn publicly confirmed his condition, stating that his nervous weakness forbade him from any mental exertion. He explicitly admitted that he had not kept up with the science of metaphysics since 1775—long before Kant’s Critique was even published.

It is in this exact context of admitting his own cognitive limitations that Mendelssohn writes:

„I therefore know the writings of the great men who have in the meantime distinguished themselves in metaphysics—the works of Lambert, Tetens, Platner, and even of the all-crushing Kant—only through the inadequate reports of my friends or through learned notices…“

 

A Crushing of Concentration, Not Philosophy

When Mendelssohn called Kant the Alleszermalmer, he was not praising Kant’s philosophical success in destroying dogmatic metaphysics. He was expressing his own personal overwhelm. Kant’s convoluted, impenetrable prose—what Heinrich Heine later mocked as a „gray, dry, brown-paper style“—simply crushed Mendelssohn’s fragile capacity for concentration.

The „crushing“ referred to the sheer, exhausting cognitive burden of reading the text, an experience shared by almost everyone who attempted to read the Critique upon its release. To derive the heroic title „All-Crusher of previous philosophy“ from an ailing man’s admission of reading fatigue is not just absurd; it is completely contrary to the historical facts.

Furthermore, as we established in Chapter 3 of The Long Farewell to Immanuel Kant, Kant did not actually crush traditional metaphysics. Through the subsequent PR-campaign led by Karl Leonhard Reinhold, Kant’s work was explicitly popularized as a conservative defense of religion, designed to protect traditional Lutheran values and the concept of God from the radical, materialist Enlightenment thinkers of France. Kant was not the destroyer of dogma; he was its most sophisticated restorer.

Conclusion: Breaking the Spell

The myth of the Alleszermalmer perfectly encapsulates the broader phenomenon of the Kant-Mythos. It demonstrates how the German cultural sphere—desperate for an intellectual „National Saint“—has consistently stripped Kant’s history of its context, transforming mundane realities, poor writing styles, and theological rescue missions into legendary philosophical triumphs.

The memes we have deconstructed over these nine parts are not harmless academic traditions. They act as „cognitive prostheses“ that prevent us from thinking critically and scientifically about the world. By shedding these illusions, we open the door to a genuine, evidence-based Enlightenment.

 

Where to Obtain the Book, eBook & AI-Audiobook

The full, uncompromised investigation is available now across international formats:

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