ON SUICIDE
GAMBORG, ANDREAS.
Om Selvmord og Selvmordere. Fragment af et Brev, Tungsindige til Tröst.
Kiöbenhavn, 1796.
Small 8vo. Contemporary brown half calfwith wear to corners and upper capital. Old owner's name to title-page. Brownspotting. 48 pp.
Scarce first edition of the Danish philosopher Gamborg’s work on suicide and those who commit it. Gamborg (1753-1833) was professor of philosophy at the University of Copenhagen, where he taught Hans Christian Ørsted. His naturalistic moral philosophy came to influence Danish philosophy in the period before Kierkegaard. His philosophy is characterized by lack of prejudice and love of enlightenment, of which the present work is a prime example. “On Suicide and Those who Commit it” is written in the form of a letter, urging the reader to have compassion for those who are so desperate that they see no other way out. Up until the middle of the 19th century, suicide was not only banned by the Church, but also forbidden by law in Denmark. For centuries, suicide had been considered as a sin in the Christian faith, causing eternal damnation, and with The Danish Law of Christian V from 1683, it had also become punishable. In the present work, Gamborg argues against this cruel damnation of the mentally most fragile in society and argue that they deserve our pity and compassion rather than damnation and loathing – a prime example of the humanity so characteristic for his moral philosophy.
Order-nr.: 62328
DKK 1.400,00