Phaedon

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

Summary

Phaedon is a defense of the simplicity and

Mendelssohn wrote the book after the death of his friend Thomas Abbt. Abbt had introduced him to Plato's work, the Phaedo, and he decided to bring this work into the contemporary world. The book is dedicated to Abbt.^[3]

Phaedon is a series of three

calls the Achilles of Rationalist Psychology). The Phaedon contains an original argument for the simplicity of the soul, and also an original argument that simples cannot suddenly disappear. It contains further original arguments that the soul must retain its rational capacities as long as it exists.

Reception

This section possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research should be removed. (June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Materialistic views were at the time common and fashionable, and faith in immortality was at a low ebb.

Phaedon became a bestseller upon its publication, earning Mendelssohn the nickname “Berlin Socrates” and “German Plato”.^[4][5]

Kant criticized Mendelssohn's argument for immortality in the second edition of the Critique of Pure Reason (1787),^[6] at B413-15. Commentators disagree over whether Kant's criticism is successful.

Mendelssohn's arguments have been largely overlooked by contemporary analytic philosophers, but philosophers including

References