Suicide & Philosophy

An internet resource for the philosophical study of suicide and its meaning for us.

"If suicide is allowed then everything is allowed. If anything is not allowed then suicide is not allowed. This throws a light on the nature of ethics, for suicide is, so to speak, the elementary sin. And when one investigates it it is like investigating mercury vapour in order to comprehend the nature of vapours. Or is even suicide in itself neither good nor evil?" (Ludwig Wittgenstein, Notebooks, 1914-1916, §10.1.17)

This page is dedicated to philosophical research on the problem of suicide. As such, this is not a suicide prevention site. (If you are in need of or are interested in suicide prevention, please see the AAS below.) My interests in suicide center around the (existential) issues of anxiety, despair, freedom, and authenticity. I will be adding and updating all links as my own research and writing progresses. If you have any suggestions, comments, links, or recommendations, please e-mail me, or visit my main page for information about my other interests and endeavors.

Philosophical Writings on Suicide:

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Suicide (by Michael Cholbi)
Aquinas, Thomas (from the Summa Theologica)**
Hume, David, "On Suicide" (including "Anti-Suicide," written by an anonymous editor, Letter 114 and Letter 115 from Rousseau's Eloisa)
Ingersoll, Robert Green, Writings & Interviews on Suicide. (For more on Ingersoll, 19th Century American Freethinker and Orator, visit The Secular Web, especially here.)
Kant, Immanuel
Plato: Phaedo (excerpt), policy on suicide in Laws
Schopenhauer, Arthur, "On Suicide"
The Stoics:

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations**
Epictetus, Enchiridion**

(** Indicates an external link)

My Work On Suicide and Related Issues:

Suicide & The Self (abstract) (pdf)
"Contemplating Suicide: What It Takes, and What It Gives Back", Matthew Pianalto (essay is available in Clamor Magazine, Issue 25: Death. See here for a brief synopsis)
"What Do I Do Now? - Heidegger & Existential Anxiety" (abstract) (pdf)
"Authenticity: The Resuscitation of a Moral Ideal" (abstract) (pdf)

On Suicide, Elsewhere on the Web:

Thomas S. Szasz Cybercenter for Liberty and Responsibility (Szasz is the author of Fatal Freedom: The Ethics and Politics of Suicide (1999) as well as other books that challenge mainstream ideas in the psychiatric community--especially regarding autonomy and mental illness.)
"Straight Talk About Suicide"
"Suicide as a Moral Issue"
United States Suicide Statistics, 2001 (taken from the National Vital Statistics Report)
Google on Suicide (a mixed bag of sources and topics, but every once in awhile, something genuinely interesting or worthwhile turns up)
alt.suicide.holiday (a Google Group discussion thread that I don't know if I recommend of not. Lots of despairing and angry ranting by the supposedly suicidal and the vehemently anti-suicidal
Suicide in Early Modern Europe (A Bibliography maintained by Jeffrey R. Watt, University of Mississippi, Dept. of History)
Suicide in Art, Film and Literature (From the NYU Literature, Arts, & Medicine Database)
From the Annenberg Center:
"Media Continue to Perpetuate Myth of Winter Holiday - Suicide Link" (2001)

Systematic suicide prevention:
The American Association of Suicidology ("Dedicated to the Understanding and Prevention of Suicide")

Suicide & Philosophy:
Reading List/Bibliography
Divided into categorical sections, with comments and recommendations on some works.

SHOP FOR BOOKS ON SUICIDE
Courtesy of Amazon.com

Classic literary accounts of suicide:

The Sorrows of Werther, J.W. von Goethe
A Confession, Leo Tolstoy (Surveys his struggles to find a meaning in life, recurring thoughts of suicide, and his search for faith)
Hamlet (an existential canonical text) (unindexed version)

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Suicide & Philosophy. Born 12.15.03. Last Updated Thursday, 23-Sep-2004 02:43:06 CDT.