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One of the earliest enlightened philosophical works published in Germany

BASEDOW, Johann Bernhard.
Philalethie. Neue Aussichten in die Wahrheiten und Religion der Vernunft bis in die Gränzen der glaubwürdigen Offenbarung, dem denkenden Publico eröffnet.

With engraved allegorical vignette on first title and engraved allegorical frontispiece by Fritzsch, showing a dark landscape at night with a moon and stars and the motto underneath: "Auch diess sind Strahle der Sonne".

Altona, David Iversen, 1764. 2 parts in 1 vol. 4to. Contemp. boards, uncut. With engraved allegorical vignette on first title and engraved allegorical frontispiece by Fritzsch, showing a dark landscape at night with a moon and stars and the motto underneath: "Auch diess sind Strahle der Sonne". (24), 748, (10, 2 blank); (6), 448 pp.

Rare first edition of one of the earliest enlightened philosophical works published in Germany. It called for education in the spirit of the Enlightment in religiously neutral schools, and laid the basis for a program of enligthened pedagogy and the founding of philantropinism. Johann Bernard Basedow (1724-1790), was at the time professor in Altona, and in Philalethie he introduced the teaching of the so-called "natural religion", compared it with Christian religion, and proved that only after an understanding of "natural religion", that is the understanding of the knowledge of men and of nature, people could come to Christian religion, that is the full understanding and acceptance of the Ultimate Truth. The book created quite an uproar, especially when Basedow also applied these ideas to children's education in his Methodischer Unterricht der Jugend in der Religion und Sittenlehre der Vernunft, nach dem in der Philalethie angegebene Plane, published in the same year.
In the preface Basedow stated that he expected gratitude, especially from those friends of virtue and natural religion who until then were sadly hindered from being good Christians. At the end of the first part, which presents a clear system of theoretical philosophy and some applications to theology, long lists of questions are added to memorize everything taught in this part, firstly on "Anthropology" then on "Theology", with references to the passages where the answers can be found.
In the second part Basedow discusses, as explained in the preface, abstract truths and errors, including some difficult theories, necessary to counter deep-rooted errors. This part is, according to the author, quite independent from the first and should really have been the first part, because it contains "all synthetic preparations" for the second part. Again at the end long lists of questions are added to memorize everything taught. In our copy, the index to the whole work is bound in between both parts. As stated on title, Basedow wrote the book for use of the "thinking public", but especially for use of "educators", both teachers and parents.

Good copy.- (Binding sl. worn).

Not in Duyx, De Filantropijnen; Lex. Kinder- u. Jugendlit. I, 110; Lex. d. Pädagogik I, 117.

Related Subjects: Education Enlightenment German Pedagogy & Didactics

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