Johan Robeck
Johan Robeck (1672–1735) was a Swedish-German Catholic theologian and philosopher who wrote an essay in defense of suicide, and later drowned himself in the river Weser.
Johan Robeck
- Born
- 1672 · Kalmar.
- Died
- 1735 · Bremen.
- Occupation
- philosopher · writer · catholic theologian
- Languages
- Latin
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Johan Robeck (1672–1735) was a Swedish-German Catholic theologian and philosopher who wrote an essay in defense of suicide, and later drowned himself in the river Weser.
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Life
Life
Robeck was born in Kalmar, Sweden, and raised in the reformed religion. He studied in Uppsala, before going to Hildesheim in Germany, where he converted to Catholicism in 1704. He joined the Jesuits and lived in Rinteln, Westphalia. He wrote an essay justifying suicide from a theological point of view, titled Exercitatio philosophica de morte voluntaria (A philosophical exercise concerning voluntary death), which was published posthumously (Marburg, 1736) by Johann Nicolaus Funck. His book started a debate among Europeans of his time, which included Rousseau and Voltaire, especially after he himself committed suicide by drowning in the river Weser near Bremen, Germany. According to Robeck's argument, anyone may destroy a gift, the giver having given up any rights in it; therefore, as life is a gift from God, suicide cannot offend against God.
In Voltaire's Candide
In Voltaire's Candide
Robeck's suicide is referenced in the old woman's story at the end of chapter XII in Voltaire's 1759 novel Candide: "...I have met only twelve who have voluntarily put an end to their misery — three negroes, four Englishmen, four Swiss, and a German professor called Robeck."
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Kalmar.
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Bremen.
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Notes from the source article
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- 1.Jean-Jacques Rousseau. Nouvelle Eloise. III. 21.
- 2."J’ai vu dans les pays que le sort m’a fait parcourir, et dans les cabarets où j’ai servi, un nombre prodigieux de personnes qui avaient leur existence en exécration; mais je n’en ai vu que douze qui aient mis volontairement fin à leur misère, trois nègres, quatre Anglais, quatre Genevois, et un professeur allemand nommé Robeck." Oeuvres Complètes De Voltaire: Avec Des Notes Et Une Notice Historique Sur La Vie De Voltaire. Vol. 8, Paris: Furne, 1846, 587.
- 3.Herman Hofberg. Svenskt biografiskt handlexicon. 2. 349. 1876.
- 4.Philip Littell. Candide. Boni & Liveright. 170. 1918.
- 5.Otto Schmid. Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie. Duncker & Humblot. 28. 717. 1889.
- 6.Michael Wood. Candide, or Optimism. Penguin Classics. xix. 2005. 978-0-14-303942-6.
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