Biathanatos

Biathanatos (from Greek Βιαθανατος meaning "violent death") is a work by the English writer and clergyman John Donne. Written in 1608 and published after his death,[1] it contains a heterodox defense of "self-homicide" (suicide), listing prominent Biblical examples including Jesus, Samson, Saul, and Judas Iscariot. Thomas De Quincey responds to the work in his "On Suicide",[2] and Jorge Luis Borges responds in "Biathanatos".[3]

Contents

Donne begins by addressing his patron, Phillip Harbert, then divides the book, after a preface, into three parts, each part divided into distinctions, each distinction divided into sections. The first part focuses on "The Law of Nature", the second on "The Law of Reason", and the third on "The Law of God", before ending with a conclusion.[1]

Sources
  1. Donne, John (1648), Βιαθανατος. A Declaration of that Paradoxe, Or Thesis, that Self-homicide is not so naturally Sin, that it may never be otherwise, Henry Moseley.
  2. De Quincey, Thomas (1855), "On Suicide", The Note Book of an English Opium-Eater, Ticknor and Fields, pp. 260–266.
  3. Borges, Jorge Luis (1964), "Biathanatos", Other Inquisitions 1937-1952, translated by Ruth L. C. Simms, University of Texas Press, pp. 89–92, ISBN 9780292760028.

Modern Edition
  • Donne, John (1982), Rudick, Michael; Battin, M. Pabst (eds.), Biathanatos, Garland English Texts, ISBN 9781166173944.
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