Jonathan Dymond (1796–1828) was an English

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

and an ethical philosopher who is known for his

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''An Enquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity''.Notes about John Dymond by Larry Kuenning, for the Quaker Heritage Press, quoting Rufus Jones ''The Later Periods of Quakerism'' (London: Macmillan, 1921), pp. 716–1
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Life

Jonathan Dymond was the son of a Quaker linen-draper of Exeter, England. Both his parents were '

Recorded Minister A Recorded Minister was originally a male or female Quaker (that is, a member of the Religious Society of Friends), who was acknowledged to have a gift of Religious_Society_of_Friends#Unprogrammed_worship, spoken ministry. The practice of recordin ...

s' of the Society of Friends. He had little formal education but used his time off from working in his father's shop to read and to write essays on religious and moral problems, as well as composing poetry. He determined that he should devote his energies to 'the honour of advocating peace'. In his view war was "an evil before which, in my estimation, slavery sinks into insignificance". In 1825 he attended the annual meeting of the Peace Society in London and went on to help set up a branch of that society in Exeter. He soon had to withdraw from taking an active part due to his failing health. On 6th May 1828, age 31, Jonathan Dymond died of tuberculosis.

Works

Three works by Dymond have been published, two during his lifetime, the ''Inquiry'' and the ''Observations'', and one posthumously, the ''Essays''. A collection of his published and unpublished letters, poems and writings was made in 1911 by Charles William Dymond. * ''An inquiry into the Accordancy of War with the Principles of Christianity, and an Examination of the Philosophical Reasoning by which it is defended: with Observations on Some of the Causes of War and Some of Its Effects.'' 1823 in England hiladelphia 1834 ritish Library 001023068 * ''Observations on the Applicability of the Pacifist Principles of the New Testament on the Conduct of States, and on the Limitations which those principles impose on the Rights of Self-defence.'' London Peace Society Tract No. VII, 1825 ritish Library #001023074 * ''Essays on the Principles of Morality, and on the Private and Political Rights and Obligations of Mankind.'' In two volumes, Hamilton, Adams & Co, 1829 ritish Library #001023056 * ''Memoir, letters and poems of Jonathan Dymond : with bibliographical supplements'': Charles William Dymond: privately printed, Bristol, 1911 ritish Library # 007585688

Views

In his works Dymond extended the pacifist argument against war beyond the purely Christian insight of earlier generations of Quakers to wider more rationalist arguments, as in this against the notion of a distinction between aggressive and defensive war from the ''Inquiry'': Dymond was a fervent antimilitarist. He saw armies as enemies of liberty and physical and moral subjection as a necessary condition of army life. The opinion he voiced prefigures some of the later objections to conscription made by Quakers and other conscientious objectors.

References

External links

* * Jonathan Dymond ''Essays on the principles of morality & on the private & political rights & obligations of mankind'' (1896
Full text at Internet ArchiveFull text on the Walden Woods Project
* Jonathan Dymond ''Judicial oaths : their moral character and effects'' (1889
Full text at Internet Archive
* Online Books by Jonathan Dymon
The Online Books Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dymond, Jonathan 1796 births 1828 deaths 19th-century Quakers 19th-century English writers Christian ethicists English Christian pacifists English male non-fiction writers 19th-century English philosophers English Quakers

Life

Works

Views

See also

References

Further reading

External links