'To be or not to be?': On self and being in Tommaso Campanella's Scelta di alcune poesie filosofiche

Although the realities of his difficult life may have tempted Tommaso Campanella, he ultimately refused to take his own life. The reasons why he rejected suicide are rigorous and rational when considered within the complex system of his poetic philosophy. In this contribution, the author posits Campanella's theoretical and personal considerations of suicide in his Selection of Some Philosophical Poems in the contexts of Telesian natural science, a metaphysical understanding of transmutation, and the ethical consequences of an acceptance of God's differentiated Beingness.