Il suicidio nel Settecento italiano: l’Istoria critica e filosofica del suicidio ragionato di Appiano Buonafede

Abstract

This article analyses Appiano Buonafede’s Istoria critica e filosofica del suicidio ragionato (1761), the only monograph on this subject in Italy until the 19th century. Within a context dominated by Tridentine morality, Buonafede uses the refutation of the lawfulness of suicide and the history of philosophy as apologetic tools against the Enlightenment’s attempt to construct a secular morality. Through a geographical and chronological analysis, the author traces the roots of this “error” in concepts such as pantheism and materialism, viewed as premises for the denial of Divine Providence. Furthermore, the text examines Buonafede’s positioning within contemporary debates, from the controversies surrounding Paolo Sarpi to the clash with Stoicism and Montesquieu’s thought. The work emerges as a fundamental historiographical laboratory in which the defense of Christian morality intertwines with the birth of modern philosophical historiography in Italy.