Over the next few months the caged Maltese population will slowly but surely be let out of its captivity and isolation thanks to the advent of the Low Cost Revolution, which is being seen in some quarters as primarily an educational experience for the confined populace. Which it probably will be, to an extent. Reliable sources have informed us that Ryanair's 'outspoken' Michael O'Leary may soon be appointed Malta's new Education Minister. Louis Galea, move over.

As the revolution kicks off, it's worth contemplating the life of a great, if slightly boring, philosopher who came up with some rigid ideas, the most notable of which being the "Categorical Imperative" - "act only on that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law." Maybe that's what a life of being rooted to the same few square miles does to you. Who knows?

He died in Konigsburg on February 12, 1804 near the end of his 80th year. Little more than five feet tall, deformed in his right shoulder, his chest almost concave, Kant had a weak constitution. He never married, and followed an unchanging program of activities from youth to old age. For example, he never failed to rise at 5 o'clock, studied for 2 hours, lectured for 2 more, and spent the rest of the morning at his desk. He dined at a restaurant and spent the afternoon in conversation with friends. He then walked for about an hour -- a walk which for years followed exactly the same course, studied for 2 hours more, and retired between 9 and 10. He was a prolific reader, especially in history, science, travel, and philosophy. He knew English history and literature intimately, especially in the period of Queen Anne. He read little of Goethe or Schiller, but often re-read Voltaire and Rousseau. He had little interest in nature, and in 80 years never traveled more than 40 miles from his native Konigsburg.

¶ 2:14 AM