...when you dream of beating up philosophers. I recently had a dream in which Immanuel Kant made an appearance, with the Dick-Tracy-villain, monster-mask face he sometimes has in pictures of him (here, for instance). The details of the dream are very fuzzy, but I distinctly remember at some point snatching up a broom. I then proceeded to shout at Kant: "You are stupidest man alive! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! You are the stupidest man alive!" At each "stup" syllable I brought the broom handle down hard on his head. Naturally, he started running, and I chased after him, shouting, "You are the stupidest man alive! Stupid! Stupid!" and managing to him over the head with the broom handle a goodly number of times (no mean feat, because it turns out that Kant is swift and nimble when he is dodging a broomstick). I don't know how it would have turned out because I woke myself up by swinging the broomstick too hard.
While I do often make jokes at Kant's expense, I assure you that this animosity toward Kant does not intrude into my waking life....
