Phaedon

This article is about the 1767 book. For people with this given name, see Phaedon (name). Phaedon is also a genus of beetles in subfamily Chrysomelinae.
Phaedon
Author Moses Mendelssohn
Original title Phädon oder über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele
Country Germany
Language German
Subject Philosophy
Published 1767
Media type Print

Phaedon (German: Phädon oder über die Unsterblichkeit der Seele), published in 1767, is a book by the Jewish Enlightenment philosopher Moses Mendelssohn.[1]

Summary

Phaedon is a defense of immortality.[1] Mendelssohn argues that the soul must be indestructible because it is a simple substance.[2]

Reception

One of Mendelssohn's most famous books,[2] Phaedon won him fame.[1] Immanuel Kant criticized Mendelssohn's argument for immortality in the Critique of Pure Reason (1781).[2]

References

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Goodman 2005. p. 585.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Popkind 1999. p. 556.

Bibliography

Books
  • Goodman, Lenn E. (2005). Honderich, Ted, ed. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-926479-1.
  • Popkin, Richard H. (1999). Audi, Robert, ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63722-8.