we can understand. And then he smuggles God in by the back door.”
“But unlike Descartes, he emphasizes most particularly that it is not
reason which brought him to this point but faith. He himself called faith in the
immortal soul, in God’s existence, and in man’s free will practical postulates.”
“Which means?”
“To ‘postulate’ something is to assume something that cannot be proved.
By a ‘practical postulate,’ Kant meant something that had to be assumed for
the sake of ‘praxis,’ or practice; that is to say, for man’s morality. ‘It is a moral
necessity to assume the existence of God,’ he said.”
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Sophie got up, but as Alberto
gave no sign of rising, she asked: “Shouldn’t we see who it is?”
Alberto shrugged and reluctantly got up. They opened the door, and a
little girl stood there in a white summer dress and a red bonnet. It was the girl
they had seen on the other side of the lake. Over one arm she carried a
basket of food.
“Hi,” said Sophie. “Who are you?”
“Can’t you see I am Little Red Ridinghood?”
Sophie looked at Alberto, and Alberto nodded.
“You heard what she said.”
“I’m looking for my grandmother’s house,” said the girl. “She is old and
sick, but I’m taking her some food.”
“It’s not here,” said Alberto, “so you’d better get on your way.”
He gestured in a way that reminded Sophie of the way you brush off a
fly.
“But I’m supposed to deliver a letter,” continued the girl in the red
bonnet.
With that, she took out a small envelope and handed it to Sophie. Then
she went skipping away.
“Watch out for the wolf!” Sophie called after her.
Alberto was already on his way back into the living room.
“Just think! That was Little Red Ridinghood,” said Sophie.
“And it’s no good warning her. She will go to her grandmother’s house
and be eaten by the wolf. She never learns. It will repeat itself to the end of
time “
“But I have never heard that she knocked on the door of another house
before she went to her grandmother’s.”
“A bagatelle, Sophie.”
Now Sophie looked at the envelope she had been given. It was
addressed “To Hilde.” She opened it and read aloud:
Dear Hilde, If the human brain was simple enough for us to understand,
we would still be so stupid that we couldn’t understand it. Love, Dad.
Alberto nodded. “True enough. I believe Kant said something to that
effect. We cannot expect to understand what we are. Maybe we can
comprehend a flower or an insect, but we can never comprehend ourselves.
Even less can we expect to comprehend the universe.”
Sophie had to read the cryptic sentence in the note to Hilde several
times before Alberto went on: “We are not going to be interrupted by sea
serpents and the like. Before we stop for today, I’ll tell you about Kant’s
ethics.”
“Please hurry. I have to go home soon.”