On Rational suicide abolition. According to Spinosa's philosophical doctrine, self-destruction is fundamentally excluded, so auto-destruction is only conceivable in the light of an external cause. In this recent paper by MacLean-Evans, I., (2023). External Conditions, Internal Rationality: Spinoza on the Rationality of Suicide, Journal of Spinoza Studies, 2, no. 1: 40–63. Available on: https://philarchive.org/archive/MACECI-7

The author argues "that we can take Spinoza to be encouraging an approach to studying suicide and addressing its social causes that avoid some issues which scholars in suicide studies have found to be present in many contemporary instances of suicide research, including over-individualism and some pernicious forms of ableist epistemic injustice. The approach also encourages us to abolish the kinds of conditions in which suicide becomes a rational course of action".

The question also covers a societal component in relation to the debate on the "right to die within dignity" so they also said when I had to bring my cat to the vet. I thought it was stupid to say that my cat died with dignity. I told the vet. that those who believe get their cats back in the heaven. Because everythig on earth is exceeded and better in heaven.

We get the answers what was ethically correct first in heaven. The human being does not know as much as she thinks that she knows. To die with dignity is really an expression to ease the pain of the conscious of those who promote suicide or abortions. We all die sooner or later so nobody needs to worry about living for ever on the earth. In the concentration camps (KZ) it was Viktor Frankl's duty to hinder people to touch the electrified net around the camp. He invented his logotherapy and created a purpose for every sufferer to wait for and said that those who had a why to live for survived every circumstance even KZ. To cite" The Power of Purpose Frankl observed that those prisoners who survived, who found a way to endure, always had a greater purpose that carried them onward through difficult conditions. For some it was a child who was sheltered away in some distant country and who was waiting for them upon liberation. For others it was a spouse or family member." The purpose may be 2 weeks away or 2 years away. Frankl's own near and dear were killed in the gaz chambers and still he could believ in life. he said that when we suffer we have to be worthy of our suffering!

I have written a paper about this. It is here on RG:

Miss B Pursues Death and Miss P Life in the Light of V. E. Frankl’s Existential Analysis/ Logotherapy

• June 2015
• OMEGA--Journal of Death and Dying 71(2):169-196
• DOI:
• 10.1177/0030222815570599
• 📷S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist
• 📷Kim Lützén

S. Béatrice Marianne Ewalds-Kvist Thank you for your insightful comments and for the outstanding paper you mentioned:

Ewalds-Kvist, B., & Lützén, K. (2015). Miss B pursues death and miss P life in the light of VE Frankl's existential analysis/Logotherapy. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 71(2), 169-197.

Available on:

Article Miss B Pursues Death and Miss P Life in the Light of V. E. F...

I personally very much appreciated this edifying passage within the conclusion "However, every life—also that one in severe circumstances—has a chance to become existentially meaningful along three paths: creative values, experiential values, and by a change of attitude toward unavoidable suffering. One has to become worthy of one’s suffering!"

Thank you, I was thinking about writing that paper for 10 yrs and I am glad I did it. It touched me personally so much.

All the best to you and thank you for reading it,

Béatrice

After the suicide of Lindsay, 13, schooled in Pas-de-Calais, France

News, 20 Minutes with AFP, published on 06/11/23, Harassment: What is this hour of awareness for all college students? (Own translation)

• In France, the students of the 7,000 colleges will have to follow this week an hour of awareness on “harassment and social networks”.
• This special hour is launched a few weeks after the suicide of Lindsay, 13, schooled in Pas-de-Calais.
• The drama had aroused great emotion in France and in the town of the young girl, in Vendin-le-Vieil.
• Received by Brigitte Macron, Betty Gervois, Lindsay's mother, was offered the role of ambassador for the pHARe anti-harassment program.

Read the article in French on:

https://www.20minutes.fr/societe/4040756-20230611-harcelement-quoi-heure-sensibilisation-tous-collegiens

Suicide is a fatal output of most corrupted society . The extent of suicide is a measure of crime to commit a person towards suicide .

Jaydip Datta You are right. Corruption is one of the factors of hopelessness that can lead to suicide. This paper [1] shows "that suicide rates are lower in countries with lower levels of corruption" ... The authors "find evidence that this effect is approximately three times larger for males than for females. It follows from these findings that corruption has a detrimental effect on societal well-being and its effect differs based on the social position of genders"

[1] Yamamura, E., Andrés, A.R. & Katsaiti, M.S. Does Corruption Affect suicide? Econometric Evidence from OECD Countries. Atl Econ J 40, 133–145 (2012). Available on:

https://www.academia.edu/download/72789642/s11293-012-9313-720211016-1078-108dyvl.pdf

Dear Jamel Chahed , thanks for sharing the question. I do not support suicide at all!

I have taken part in some related discussions with so many contributions.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_do_you_think_of_suicide

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How-to-mobilize-communities-for-suicide-prevention

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for the links. Me too I don't support suicide. I believe that societal debates are in a position to shed light on social threats to understand causes and fight against them.

Looking forward to having a piece of your insightful feedback.

As a psychologist, I have been involved in suicide many times. I can assure you that it is not fun. Seeing how distraught the children are when they see their mother hanging from a rope does not give me the courage to comment on "Can suicide be rational and morally defensible? Sincerely, Carl

Carl H.D. Steinmetz Thank you for your comment. Okay, I understand.

Though I am not an expert on "Moral philosophy or ethics", the present discussion is both important and complex topic. While it is crucial to approach this discussion with sensitivity and respect for individuals' experiences, my contributions stem largely from general perspectives.

Based on my small readings and from an ethical standpoint, different philosophical frameworks offer varying views. Some argue that individual autonomy and the right to make decisions about one's own life can provide a basis for considering suicide as morally defensible. They emphasize the importance of personal agency and the freedom to choose one's own path, even in such a difficult decision.

However, opposing perspectives often focus on the inherent value of human life and the potential for finding alternative solutions to alleviate suffering. They contend that suicide undermines the intrinsic worth of life and that there may be moral obligations to support and help individuals in their struggles.

It is essential to consider factors such as mental health, social support systems, access to healthcare, and cultural or religious beliefs, as they significantly influence perceptions and interpretations of suicide. Understanding the complexity of these issues is crucial in fostering a compassionate and informed discussion.

Peter Donkor Thank you for these excellent insights on the different aspects of the Topic. And as you so well said "Understanding the complexity of these issues is crucial in fostering a compassionate and informed discussion"

On Near-Suicide choice: "When patients go to hospitals to seek treatment, they still have the instinct to live and may have some money. However, why are patients still deciding to end the treatment, a near-suicide choice?" This very recent paper tries to answer this question based on a dataset of 1042 Vietnamese patients.

Nguyen, M. H., & Jin, R. (2023). Near-suicide phenomenon: A collectivistic dilemma between life and morality. Available on:

https://mindsponge.info/posts/191 L

Dear Jamel Chahed , regarding your previous answer, I am free to recommend this related discussions.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/When_it_is_permissible_if_it_is_euthanasia

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_your_view_about_euthanasia_assisted_suicide

The reference book by Durkheim, E. (more than 26,000 citations). Le suicide: étude de sociologie (Suicide: A Study in Sociology), Alcan, 1887, is accessible on:

https://books.google.com/books?hl=fr&lr=&id=zCOv9ZA6y4QC&oi=fnd&pg=PR2&dq=literature+on+suicide&ots=g_SJLO3C7F&sig=gGG6XJgKeLbSqmPXMjcxee7G0jg

"Suicide: A Study in Sociology (French: Le Suicide: Étude de sociologie) is an 1897 book written by French sociologist Émile Durkheim. It was the first methodological study of a social fact in the context of society. It is ostensibly a case study of suicide, a publication unique for its time that provided an example of what the sociological monograph should look like. According to Durkheim, the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_(Durkheim_book)

Let me answer the question with a question. Do you know great poets and writers - Hemingway, Mayakovsky, Yesenin, Fadeev?

Do you know Alain Delon, who ordered his own euthanasia?

Do you know officers of the First or Second World War who shot themselves in the temple or mouth with a pistol or revolver?

The truth is concrete.

I believe that in some cases it is justified.

P.F. Zabrodskii Thank you for this post which gives food for thought on the fate of the celebrities whose names you mentioned. To speak only of Ernest Hemingway, this great literary figure of the twentieth century, well, not only his death was tragic, but also his life: "For generations, the family of the American writer Ernest Hemingway is the victim of a strange series of suicides"

The terrible curse of the Hemingway family, (La terrible malédiction de la famille Hemingway), by Élise Costa — June 15, 2017. (See in French):

https://www.slate.fr/story/147129/la-malediction-hemingway

António José Rodrigues Rebelo

This is a complex question embogged with the idea of individual freedom and ethics of human survival. The Indian Vedic tradition observes that the first duty of man is towards protecting his/her body, from cold, heat, aggression, hunger and so on. Therefore, there is no question of aggressing upon one's body.

However, in the same tradition it is observed that unless all the means to protect your body end one should survive but when the means to survive end the last mean could be to end the biological existence. What if a woman or a man is assaulted by the marauders with the possibility of worst end. The institution of Sati, self-immolation was the outcome of this tradition, which later transformed into an ugly custom and ended few centuries back. In the traditional warfare there were different possibilities of death establishing the ethically approved customs of self-ending.

The Sati differs from suicide as the former is a rational decision while the latter is more an outcome of circumstances governed minds, may be depressed, maniac, forced, which would mean even assassination. Suicides mostly occur due to psychological reasons and if some of them are wise or rational, even then they are brought under the term suicide.

Euthanasia is another dimension of ending biological existence at the cost of its survival and it happens only when all the means to survive end. Therefore, it remains a complex question that gropes for answers from rationalists, moralists, and even jurisprudence.

Thank you Dear Harish K Thakur for these insightful comments. As you put it so well, it is indeed a delicate and complex question with the most essential moral and legal implications. May this discussion make it possible to explore the different aspects, in a calm, serene, and enriching debate with the academic distance necessary for dispassionate, placid, and objective analyses.

Seppuku (Harakiri): Suicide for Honor. Harish K Thakur referred to the Vedic ritual of Suicide once practiced in India. Another culture, another Suicide ritual: the "Seppuku" in Samoran Japan. Excerpts from "Seppuku and Harakiri Explained: Facts and Differences", by Adam Acar: "Seppuku is honorable death or ritualistic suicide by disembowelment that can only be conducted by a samurai. Hara-kiri means stomach-cutting in Japanese where the word hara refers to stomach and kiri refers to cutting. Harakiri and seppuku mean exactly the same thing in Japanese...There are actually 2 kinds of seppuku: voluntary or obligatory. Voluntary seppuku was often committed to restore honor for a misdeed or a failure, or else to avoid capture by an invading army. Some samurai also chose to end their lives by seppuku after their daimyo died: a practice called oibara. Japanese people care about their image in society even after death. Disgraceful death in the hands of an enemy would be shameful “haji.” Obligatory seppuku, was used as a means of capital punishment for disgraced samurai who had committed acts of treason or violent crimes. Mandatory seppuku could be requested by the victor of a conflict as a term of surrender and subsequent peace. In such cases, the leader(s) of the losing side were compelled to commit seppuku, thus removing all further political and military opposition to the victor. The type of forced seppuku against the will of the samurai is called tsumebara. Ordinary criminals' heads were chopped without any ceremony, only the samurai were given the chance of cutting their own belly. Obligatory seppuku was prohibited in 1873. In general, having the ability to do a seppuku was seen as an honor rather than a punishment."

Read more on:

https://mai-ko.com/travel/japanese-history/samurai/harakiri-and-suppuku/

Picture: Staged seppuku with ritual attire and kaishaku, 1897 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Cultures inevitably affect the way individuals express emotional distress. For a considerable period of time, suicide in all its manifestations has been of great interest in not only epidemiological and psychiatric contexts but also in social and cultural dimensions as well. There has been sufficiently rigorous epidemiological evidence to indicate that rates of suicide do vary across nations and cultures as well as across time periods. In this book, instead of simply comparing suicide in different countries, the authors review and examine the fundamental issues of why culture is of vital importance in understanding and preventing suicidal behavior, what the "cultural meaning" of suicide is, and where current research and theory are leading us...

https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2012-29223-000

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for the reference. "the authors review and examine the fundamental issues of why culture is of vital importance in understanding and preventing suicidal behavior" This is the paramount challenge that only a cognitive society, humanely responsible and humble could be in a position to take up.

A poignant text on Horror & Honour (not to be recommended to sensitive souls), which describes the death penalty of Taki Zenzaburo in 1868 after the Kobe incident, is reported in the book by Nitobe, I. (1911). Bushido: the soul of Japan. Teibi publishing house. Available on: http://www.rkska.com/Bushido_the_soul_of_japan.pdf

"Mitford, in his "Tales of Old Japan," after giving a translation of a treatise on seppuku from a rare Japanese manuscript, goes on to describe an instance of such an execution of which he was an eye-witness:— "We (seven foreign representatives) were invited to follow the Japanese witness into the Hondo or main hall of the temple, where the ceremony was to be performed. It was an imposing scene. A large hall with a high roof supported by dark pillars of wood. From the ceiling hung a profusion of those huge gilt lamps and ornaments peculiar to Buddhist temples. In front of the high altar, where the floor, covered with beautiful white mats, is raised some three or four inches from the ground, was laid a rug of scarlet felt. Tall candles placed at regular intervals gave out a dim mysterious light, just sufficient to let all the proceedings be seen. The seven Japanese took their places on the left of the raised floor, the seven foreigners on the right. No other person was present. "After the interval of a few minutes of anxious suspense, Taki Zenzaburo, a stalwart man thirty-two years of age, with a noble air, walked into the hall attired in his dress of ceremony, with the peculiar hempen-cloth wings which are worn on great occasions. He was accompanied by a kaishaku and three officers, who wore the jimbaori or war surcoat with gold tissue facings. The word kaishaku it should be observed, is one to which our word executioner is no equivalent term. The office is that of a gentleman: in many cases it is performed by a kinsman or friend of the condemned, and the relation between them is rather that of principal and second than that of victim and executioner. In this instance the kaishaku was a pupil of Taki Zenzaburo, and was selected by friends of the latter from among their own number for his skill in swordsmanship. "With the kaishaku on his left hand, Taki Zenzaburo advanced slowly towards the Japanese witnesses, and the two bowed before them, then drawing near to the foreigners they saluted us in the same way, perhaps even with more deference; in each case the salutation was ceremoniously returned. Slowly and with great dignity the condemned man mounted on to the raised floor, prostrated himself before the high altar twice, and seated[19] himself on the felt carpet with his back to the high altar, the kaishaku crouching on his left hand side. One of the three attendant officers then came forward, bearing a stand of the kind used in the temple for offerings, on which, wrapped in paper, lay the wakizashi, the short sword or dirk of the Japanese, nine inches and a half in length, with a point and an edge as sharp as a razor's. This he handed, prostrating himself, to the condemned man, who received it reverently, raising it to his head with both hands, and placed it in front of himself. [19] Seated himself—that is, in the Japanese fashion, his knees and toes touching the ground and his body resting on his heels. In this position, which is one of respect, he remained until his death. "After another profound obeisance, Taki Zenzaburo, in a voice which betrayed just so much emotion and hesitation as might be expected from a man who is making a painful confession, but with no sign of either in his face or manner, spoke as follows:— 'I, and I alone, unwarrantably gave the order to fire on the foreigners at Kobe, and again as they tried to escape. For this crime I disembowel myself, and I beg you who are present to do me the honour of witnessing the act.' "Bowing once more, the speaker allowed his upper garments to slip down to his girdle, and remained naked to the waist. Carefully, according to custom, he tucked his sleeves under his knees to prevent himself from falling backward; for a noble Japanese gentleman should die falling forwards. Deliberately, with a steady hand he took the dirk that lay before him; he looked at it wistfully, almost affectionately; for a moment he seemed to collect his thoughts for the last time, and then stabbing himself deeply below the waist in the left-hand side, he drew the dirk slowly across to his right side, and turning it in the wound, gave a slight cut upwards. During this sickeningly painful operation he never moved a muscle of his face. When he drew out the dirk, he leaned forward and stretched out his neck; an expression of pain for the first time crossed his face, but he uttered no sound. At that moment the kaishaku, who, still crouching by his side, had been keenly watching his every movement, sprang to his feet, poised his sword for a second in the air; there was a flash, a heavy, ugly thud, a crashing fall; with one blow the head had been severed from the body. "A dead silence followed, broken only by the hideous noise of the blood throbbing out of the inert head before us, which but a moment before had been a brave and chivalrous man. It was horrible. "The kaishaku made a low bow, wiped his sword with a piece of paper which he had ready for the purpose, and retired from the raised floor; and the stained dirk was solemnly borne away, a bloody proof of the execution. "The two representatives of the Mikado then left their places, and crossing over to where the foreign witnesses sat, called to us to witness that the sentence of death upon Taki Zenzaburo had been faithfully carried out. The ceremony being at an end, we left the temple."

No it is not really morally defensible

Camus and the Philosophy of the Absurd. In the middle of war Albert Camus published 'Le Mythe de Sisyphe" (The Myth of Sisyphus) (Gallimard, 1942). Within, Albert Camus utters a sentence, which has since become a famous quote “There is only one really serious philosophical problem: it is suicide". Albert Camus continues: “To judge that life is or is not worth living is to answer the fundamental question of philosophy". (Own translation). Comment: To seek meaning in absurdity is to give meaning to life. And only for this reason, life should be worth living!

Rational and understandable, yes. But not acceptable and defensible.

By opposing the thought of Kant to that of Nietzsche on suicide, Stellino (2015), in his paper "Kant and Nietzsche on Suicide. Philosophical Inquiry, 39(2), 79-104", opposes in a remarkable way, the point of view of morality to that of the beyond of morality on what Camus designates as "the only really serious philosophical problem"

Abstract: This paper aims to develop the antagonism between Kant’s and Nietzsche’s views of suicide by focusing particularly on the relation between morality and life. Whereas Kant establishes a primacy of morality over life and puts forward one main moral argument against the permissibility of suicide, Nietzsche reverses this hierarchical relation and gives to life a primacy over morality. The first two sections will be thus devoted to a critical examination of both positions, while in the third and last section the attention will be focused on the consequences deriving from such approaches. The paper will be concluded by proposing two essential conditions which in the author’s view should be met in order to begin working on a tenable Nietzschean defence of suicide.

Some philosophers believe that suicide is morally improper because life should be valued and suicide implies disobeying our duties to live life. Contrary to this belief, other philosophers believe that we have the right to make any decision concerning our bodies, especially if we want to stop suffering that may be caused by pain or terminal illness. The job of physicians is to decide whether or not to help their patient with their final request, and that is morally debatable...

https://www.jjay.cuny.edu/sites/default/files/contentgroups/sasp/poster_gallery/poster03.pdf

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for this insight which introduces this paramount societal debate where the different points of view from beliefs, law, human dignity, social security, medical ethics, the family, the patient ..., come together and do not necessarily concord.

I agree with Antonio Jose Rodrigues Rebelo.

"Right to die with dignity" in the French law. Excerpts from the Text n° 131 (2020-2021) tabled in the Senate on November 17, 2020 (Own translation) ....

Article 2. ... Any person capable, according to the definition given by the Civil Code, in an advanced or terminal phase, even in the absence of a diagnosis of death in the short term, suffering from at least one condition, accidental or pathological, with proven serious and incurable characteristics and inflicting inappeasable physical or psychological suffering which it considers unbearable or placing it in a state of dependence which it considers incompatible with its dignity, may request to benefit under the conditions provided for in this title from a actively assisting in dying...

Article 3. A person whose death results from active assistance in dying implemented according to the conditions and procedures provided for by the Public Health Code is deemed to have died of natural causes....

Article 5. ...Any capable person according to the definition given by the civil code can write advance directives in the event that they are one day unable to express their will. “These advance directives express the wishes of the person relating to his end of life. The absence of mention of the wish to benefit from active assistance in dying prevents it from being requested

....

The entire text of the Law (in French) is available on: https://www.senat.fr/leg/ppl20-131.pdf

Hannibal and predicament suicide by Pridmore, Naguy & Pridmore Dynamics of Human Health; 2022:9(1). Available on: https://journalofhealth.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/DHH_Hanibal_Saxby.pdf

Conclusion: Hannibal is ranked with Napoleon and Alexander the Great in military skill and achievement. After his formal military service he served as the Chief Magistrate of Carthage. In the last years of his life, he was three times betrayed to his enemies (Romans) and on the last occasion, escape was impossible. There is no evidence Hannibal suffered a mental disorder. His death fits the category of ‘predicament suicide’ - suicide arising in the absence of mental disorder from set of distressing circumstances, from which escape is otherwise impossible

Picture. Caricature illustrating the death by poisoning of Hannibal, Carthaginian general Hannibal (247 - 182 BC) commits suicide by drinking poison after Rome demanded his surrender, 182 BC. By John Leech — http://posner.library.cmu.edu/Posner/books/book.cgi?call=937_A138C_1850, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1064485

No, I think t is very sad to hear about suicide.

I always feel that things were bad for the individual at the time, but there is usually, after a plummeting of the 'graph' of how someone feels, a rise as things improve.

If s/he had taken his or her own life, things would not have a chance to get better and the others in his or her life would probably be sad / shocked / mourning for the person now no longer with us.

Speaking of Hannibal, I found the paper by Strechie Mădălina (2022) "HANNIBALʼS STRATAGEMS. BULLETIN OF" CAROL I" NATIONAL DEFENCE UNIVERSITY, 11(4), 85-90", outstandingly insightful. Available on: Article HANNIBALʼS STRATAGEMS

Dear Sir, The great heroes never die. For the heroes the freedom it is precious like the life. The greatest leaders live and die like the great human bean.

Oustanding paper on Altruistic Suicide in India. "Vijayakumar, L. (2004). Altruistic suicide in India. Archives of Suicide Research, 8(1), 73-80. Available on: Article Altruistic Suicide in India

Culture, Suicide, and the Human Condition

Suicide is a cultural and human topic. In no known human society or culture is suicide absent (Maris 1981; Lester 2004). Some authors—Durkheim, for example—have stated that suicide, like crime, is necessary in society and linked to the basic conditions of social life. It has even been suggested that suicide “may function to remove the genes of defective people (those who are psychiatrically disturbed for example) and those past child-bearing age from society” (Lester 2004: 65). The problem with those theories, however, is that suicide is not a crime or a disease but belongs to the sphere of...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt9qck62

Thank You Dear Ljubomir Jacić for the link to this interesting book on the topic. Insightful figures are provided in the introductory chapter where one may read "The World Health Organization (WHO 2012) just reported that nearly a million people across the world commit suicide every year,1 and approximately ten million attempt to do so. On a global scale, about 2 percent of an estimated total of 90 million deaths can be classified as intentional and self-inflicted..."

„Where there is love there is life.“ — Mahatma Gandhi

„To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.“ — Oscar Wilde

„Life is not always a matter of holding good cards, but sometimes, playing a poor hand well.“ — Jack London

I agree with Chuck A Arize .

Radio France, Published on 06/07/2023, They made the news. Claire Thoury, specialist in commitment issues, is commissioned to lead the debates on the question of the end of life "Sandrine Etoa-Andegue looks back on the significant events of the year. And it is those who have experienced them tell you about them. On April 2, 2023, a convention launched by Emmanuel Macron and chaired by Claire Thoury, doctor in sociology, came out in favor of active assistance in dying..." (Own translation)

Read the article (in French) by Sandrine Etoa-Andegue on:

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-radio/ils-ont-fait-l-actu/ils-ont-fait-l-actu-claire-thoury-specialiste-des-questions-d-engagement-est-missionnee-pour-mener-les-debats-sur-la-question-de-la-fin-de-vie_5900723.html

Dear RG readers, in the comments to this valuable blog, it might be helpful to distinguish between ending life because suffering and illness are no longer bearable and suicide because the person in question can no longer cope with life, often for psychological reasons. In end-of-life cases, the person has usually lived a full life. Sincerely, Carl

Thank you Dear Carl H.D. Steinmetz for the excellent clarification about the distinction between suicide and end of life for medical reasons, even if these are still part of the societal debate.

Scary numbers: "According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2015, about 800,000 suicides were documented worldwide, and globally 78% of all completed suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries" From "Bachmann, S. (2018). Epidemiology of suicide and the psychiatric perspective. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(7), 1425. (1139 citations). Available on :

Article Epidemiology of Suicide and the Psychiatric Perspective

Taking and giving life is situational. It is both rational as well as moral.

Hereafter is the conclusion of the paper by Bachmann, S. (2018). "Epidemiology of suicide and the psychiatric perspective. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(7), 1425". (1139 citations). "Conclusion: To summarize, the best available data on suicide and, less so, on suicide attempts are being presented and updated regularly by the WHO. Information on 194 countries leads to the assumption that suicide rates vary with the diversity of changing economic, social, cultural, and environmental

factors as well as with age and gender. Also, globally, suicide rates are increased in individuals with chronic physical and mental illnesses, including abuse of alcohol and substances, and in those who have already attempted suicide. Across the world, the quality of data is low to medium due to under-, mis-, or non-diagnosing and reporting. Therefore, much less is known about suicide attempts; they probably outnumber suicides by 30 times. Prevention is possible; therefore, the implementation of the respective measures is warranted worldwide".

Paper Available on : Article Epidemiology of Suicide and the Psychiatric Perspective

Free support from a suicide hotline in Serbia

Suicidal thoughts can affect anyone. They are more common than you might think, which is why there are 1 suicide hotlines (or helplines and crisis lines) in Serbia that can offer help to anyone struggling with feeling suicidal.

Feeling suicidal suggests that you're experiencing serious emotional distress. When you're flooded with strong negative emotions, it may seem like there are no solutions to your problems. Taking your life is not the way out, there are other ways to end the pain you're feeling...

https://findahelpline.com/rs/topics/suicidal-thoughts

Impressive paper [1] by Sinead Roarty (2013) Death Wishing and Cultural Memory: A Walk through Japan’s ‘Suicide Forest’

Presentation: "Does landscape have memory? Can past events­—historical facts and cultural fictions—impregnate a site, marking it so deeply that those who pass through it feel its pull, creating attraction and desire, so the landscape itself becomes a magnet––a lure into the abyss? Put another way: does landscape have a soul? Using an interdisciplinary approach, this paper looks at the interplay between national history, memory and cultural representations of the world’s second most popular suicide destination: Aokigahara Jukai, the sacred ‘suicide forest’ lying at the base of Mount Fuji. Through the lens of Japanese cinema, the paper brings together Pierre Nora’s work on cultural memory and Maurice Pinguet’s text on voluntary death in Japan, to examine the Japanese acceptance of self-annihilation throughout history. From the samurai practice of seppuku, through to ubasute and shinju—lovers’ suicide­­—it questions whether a history of voluntary death narratives creates loci memoriae—memory places that mark a landscape or a landmark as a suicide destination, codifying and transforming a very public place into possibly the most private space of all—the environment in which someone chooses to end their life"

[1] Roarty, S. (2013). Death wishing and cultural memory: A walk through Japan’s ‘suicide forest’. In Searching for Words: How can we tell our stories of suicide (pp. 89-100). Brill. Available on:

https://www.academia.edu/2288896/Death_Wishing_and_Cultural_Memory_A_Walk_through_Japan_s_Suicide_Forest_?email_work_card=title

In conclusion to their famous paper [1] "Suicidal Ideation among Adolescent School Children, Involvement in Bully-Victim Problems, and Perceived Social Support", the authors wrote "as Lewinsohn et al. (1993) have argued, suicide should be viewed as a function of the number of risk factors that are present in individual cases. Among these, adverse peer relations, especially under conditions of low social support, may play a significant part. Longitudinal research is still needed, however, to determine the nature of causal connections that may link high levels of peer victimization and low social support to a proneness to high levels of suicidal ideation, which can, in some circumstances, lead to suicidal behavior"

[1] Rigby, K., & Slee, P. (1999). Suicidal ideation among adolescent school children, involvement in bully-victim problems, and perceived social support. Suicide and Life‐Threatening Behavior, 29(2), 119-130. Available on:

https://www.academia.edu/download/47552519/Suicidal_Ideation_among_Adolescent_Schoo20160727-14418-mzy4l7.pdf

"Dignity therapy and meaning-centered psychotherapy are two recent forms of psychotherapy that specifically address the particular circumstances of these patients. Compassionate care is essential. In palliative care settings, patients deal not only with pain and physical and depressive symptoms but with the existential anxiety of dying and, as such, facing the uncertainty of the unknown". Extract from:

Espí Forcén, F., Jaramillo, J.R. (2018). The Darkness at the End of Life: Suicide in Palliative Care Settings. In: Falcone, T., Timmons-Mitchell, J. (eds) Suicide Prevention. pp 191–202, Springer, Cham.

"The Covid-19 pandemic negatively impacted suicide mortality in Mexico, albeit by a small amount. Since this impact depended on sex and age, tailored public health strategies may be needed to confront the problem". This is the conclusion of this research [1] published 3 days ago. The study reports a 5% increase in suicides, driven by suicides among the younger females ages

On suicide at school: "Nobody likes to think about a death in school. Yet suicide is a leading cause of death for young people in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Sadly it is always a possibility that a student, parent or member of staff might choose to take their own life. However upsetting this must be, schools and colleges play an important role in reducing the likelihood of imitational behaviour and helping recovery by preparing a response thoroughly and responding appropriately to a suspected suicide if the worst should ever happen."

Source: https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/schools/step-step/step-step-resources/responding-suspected-suicide-schools-and-colleges/

There one can download a PDF version of Samaritans' Step-by-Step resource "Help When We Needed it Most", to plan and deliver an effective response to a suicide in a school.

On the three-step theory (3ST) of suicide. "A third future direction is to apply evidence-based theories of suicide to risk assessment and treatment/prevention. For example, the 3ST suggests that brief but valid measures of pain, hopelessness, connectedness, and capacity could be combined to form a measure that targets variables most central to suicide risk. Likewise, the 3ST suggests four clear objectives for suicide prevention: decrease pain, increase hope, improve connectedness, and/or reduce capacity". Excerpts from the conclusion of the famous (1330 citations) review:

Klonsky, E. D., May, A. M., & Saffer, B. Y. (2016). Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12, 307-330.

Article Suicide, Suicide Attempts, and Suicidal Ideation

Jamel,

Instead of modelling can't we have an attempt at measuring pain and hopelessness.

Is it age specific, no, it's not.

But since the phenomenon is more recurring among youth, it simply signifies the vulnerability of young and immature minds. Does it prove one hypothesis that suicide is more occurring among youth?

I believe that the psychological make up has its own characteristics, the vulnerable features allure self-killing, the normal less, and the bold goes for taking lives.

Harish K Thakur "... it is well recognised that pain intensity, like other sensations and perceptions, is a private experience that displays considerable variability both across patients and within a patient across time. Nonetheless, pain measurement and discerning factors that may affect its measurement are important for diagnosis and to determine the effectiveness of treatment interventions. This article reviews the basic concepts, roles, instruments used, and factors affecting pain measurement. A variety of the most commonly used pain measurement instruments are evaluated for their advantages and disadvantages". Excerpts from:

Ong, K. S., & Seymour, R. A. (2004). Pain measurement in humans. The Surgeon, 2(1), 15-27.

Available on:

https://www.academia.edu/download/59408073/Core_Topics_in_Pain20190527-74809-810tvf.pdf#page=86

Pain scale,

Numeric rating scales (NRS)

This pain scale is most commonly used. A person rates their pain on a scale of 0 to 10 or 0 to 5. Zero means “no pain,” and 5 or 10 means “the worst possible pain.”

Pain Scale: What It Is and How to Use It (healthline.com)

I wonder do they assess the non-biological pain, the failure to secure happiness, the redemption or passing an examination.

As stated in this article dear Jamel Chahed , "The three-step theory (3ST) of suicide. Key constructs of the 3ST are pain and hopelessness, connectedness, and suicide capacity...

Importantly, the 3ST emphasizes that it is the combination of pain and hopelessness that brings about suicidal ideation. Someone in pain but with hope for a better future will continue to engage with life. Likewise, someone who feels hopeless about the future but lives without pain will not feel suicidal ..."

Dear Harish K Thakur , there is one research question which treats measurement of pain and hopelessness.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Which-scale-or-tool-instrument-can-be-used-to-assess-suicidal-desire

(PDF) Suicide, Suicide Attempts, and Suicidal Ideation. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/290630096_Suicide_Suicide_Attempts_and_Suicidal_Ideation [accessed Jul 22 2023].

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for these insights and these precious links. It is interesting to note that the comprehensive review you mentioned comes to paramount findings. Indeed as you rightly pointed out, the three-step theory posits states that the combination of pain and hopelessness leads to suicidal ideation and ideation escalates if pain exceeds connectedness. The role of preventive measures is to be there at this critical moment to defuse the process of transition from the stage of concrete ideation to the stage of attempts.

Following the excellent reply by Ljubomir Jacić, I just posted the following comment on the RG link to the excellent paper (more than 1.3 k citations) mentioned:

Klonsky, E.D., May, A.M., & Saffer, B.Y. (2016). Suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation. Annual review of clinical psychology, 12, 307-330. Article Suicide, Suicide Attempts, and Suicidal Ideation

This comprehensive review comes to paramount findings; in particular about the Three-Step (3TS) Theory. This research makes it clear that the combination of pain and hopelessness leads to suicidal ideation and ideation escalates if pain exceeds connectedness. The role of preventive measures is to be there at this critical moment to defuse the process of transition from the stage of concrete ideation to the stage of attempts.

"What motivated St. Augustine and other Christian thinkers in late antiquity to first reason against suicide was the fanaticism of the early Christian martyrs, like the Donatists, who began to view suicide (i.e. martyrdom) as the surest means towards preserving the state of grace after baptism and which led to the first Church ruling against suicide during the sixth century CE" Excerpt from:

Part II Chapter 6: Christian Theology in Late Antiquity: St Augustine and the Sin of Suicide, by Phillip Sroka, June 2019, License, CC BY-NC 4.0. Available on: Preprint Part II Chapter 6: Christian Theology in Late Antiquity: St ...

Presentation:

This installment looks into Late Antiquity and in particular the philosophy of St. Augustine. The general conceptions of free will and happiness are visited in contrast to those already recounted from ancient philosophy. Finally there is an examination of the arguments against suicide Augustine makes in his City of God, exposing the act of suicide as nothing other than a sin against God.

"Ideally, research findings on the role of religion could help generate educational interventions, so that clinicians can help religious patients access religious supports, and so that religious communities (and their leaders) can increase their awareness of what they are doing that is helpful and provide more of it" This is the ultimate conclusion of the paper: "Religion and Suicide Risk: a systematic review, Arch Suicide Res. 2016; 20(1): 1–21. Available on: Article Religion and Suicide Risk: A Systematic Review

About the book by Patrick Gray, Shakespeare and the Fall of the Roman Republic. Selfhood, Stoicism and Civil War, Edimbourg, Edinburgh University Press, 2019, 308 p

The part of the book devoted to Antony and Cleopatra p. 177-258 deals, among other things, with suicide and stoicism. For Cleopatra, suicide would be a cultural practice of avoiding shame and moral judgment. It is also used to turn a defeat into a victory. The other part of the reflection concerns life after death. For Antony and Cleopatra, death is perceived as a temporary sleep, since they could meet again.

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/War_Peace/1

FranceInfo, July 28, 2023 by Emmanuel Pall (Own translation) "Two and a half months after the suicide of Lindsay, 13, harassed in her college in Vendin-le-Vieil (Pas-de-Calais), Gabriel Attal, newly appointed Minister of National Education declared, traveling in the Herald, want to toughen the sanctions against school bullies. Two decrees will be issued by the minister. The first will make it possible to put aside the harassers, to change their establishment. “Changing a student responsible for harassment from school rather than imposing this change on the victim of it”, is a measure “highly awaited by families”, declared the minister in Castelnau-le-Lezé.

Read more (in French) on:

https://france3-regions.francetvinfo.fr/hauts-de-france/pas-calais/gabriel-attal-va-prendre-deux-decrets-contre-le-harcelement-scolaire-2818301.html

What's Up Doc, July 31, 2023, Suicide of Professor Barrat: Yes, the Sorbonne Paris Nord University must recognize the "service accident", his widow is relieved. The surgeon was defenestrated from the 5th floor of the Avicenne Hospital in Bobigny, in 2019, following professional reasons, according to the Montreuil court. A responsibility that the Sorbonne Paris Nord University denied. “It's a small victory. For four years, this is the first good news. It's not going to change much in my daily life, but I'm happy that justice has recognized that there was a link between my husband's death and his work. " Sophie Barrat speaks in Le Parisien after a long legal battle against the Sorbonne Paris Nord University (formerly Paris 13) before the administrative court of Montreuil (Seine-Saint-Denis)". (Own translation). Read the paper in French on https://www.whatsupdoc-lemag.fr/article/suicide-du-pr-barrat-oui-luniversite-sorbonne-paris-nord-doit-reconnaitre-laccident-de

Straka, L., Novomesky, F., Krajcovic, J., & Macko, V. (2009). Ritual suicide of Japanese girl in the Slovak Republic. Legal Medicine, 11, S506-S507. Abstract: The body of a young Japanese woman was found buried in the mass of snow in February 2006 near the town of Liptovsky Mikulas in the Slovak Republic. Hypothermia was declared as the cause of her death, the body of the deceased was deeply frozen. The autopsy and police investigation classified her death as a suicide, having some features of an Eastern Asian suicidal ritual. The case shows that the era of world globalization and migration of people bring together also the curious cases of human tragedies. Thus the forensic expert of nowadays must expect that s/he might be faced with cases of death unseen before

This Text by "Kleine, C. (2006) "The epitome of the ascetic life": the controversy over self-mortification and ritual suicide as ascetic practices in East Asian Buddhism" explains the clear position against suicide in early Buddhism. Further developments are intended to answer the following question: how could it be that self-mutilation and ritual suicide are regarded as legitimate ascetic options in East Asia, and probably in India as well?

Text available on:

https://ub01.uni-tuebingen.de/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10900/92989/Kleine_046%20Final.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

NY Post, August 5, 2023, By Deirdre Bardolf: "An anti-racism instructor was recorded mocking and laughing at a beloved Toronto principal who challenged her teachings — holding him up as an example of white supremacy “resistance,” according to a report. Richard Bilkszto, 60, later committed suicide....". Read the article on: https://nypost.com/2023/08/05/dei-teacher-mocked-principal-richard-bilkszto-who-later-killed-himself-audio/

A Yale professor who suggested that mass suicide could be the solution to Japan's aging population has gained celebrity status among the country's youth...

Yusuke Narita, an assistant professor of economics at Yale University, has argued for the controversial solution to Japan's aging population in several public appearances and interviews, The Times reported...

In an interview with an online Japanese news program in December 2021, Narita said a "pretty clear solution" would be the introduction of mass suicide, or mass "seppuku" of the elderly.

Seppuku refers to the ritual suicide of samurai, which historically involved self-disembowelment...

https://www.businessinsider.com/yale-professor-suggests-old-japanese-people-should-die-mass-suicide-2023-2

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for arising the issue of mass suicide in relation to culture or religious rituals. In this regard, chapter [1] by Cusack & Lewis (2020) investigated four cases of decisive acts of mass murder, mass suicide, or a combination of both, all related to new religious movements. The authors came to the conclusion that "The four groups discussed in this chapter definitely engaged with suicide as a potential eschatological act: the violence they enacted was directed toward the membership itself; the teachings of a powerful leader reified and elaborated on the benefits of leaving this world; and a group of dedicated followers were willing to follow. That some of these followers possibly changed their minds, or had to be “assisted” to die, blurs the trajectory toward suicide with murder in all cases apart from Heaven’s Gate".

[1] Cusack, C. M., & Lewis, J. R. (2020). Mass Suicides and Mass Homicides: Collective Violence and the Demise of New Religious Movements. In, The Demise of Religion, p175. Edited by Michael Stausberg, Stuart A. Wright, and Carole M. Cusack, Bloomberry Academics

Book available on: https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/58836/9781350162921.pdf?sequence=1#page=186

See Chapter 10 page 175

Le Figaro, 8 hours ago, End of life: the executive in favor of the track of “assisted suicide”, By Agnès Leclair. DECRYPTION - In search of a "French model", the government comes up against both caregivers and activists of active assistance in dying. (Own Translation): "Acrobatic compromise or impossible "at the same time"? The search for the new “French model” of the end of life desired by Emmanuel Macron continues in the heart of summer. A balancing act for Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, Minister Delegate for Health Professions. For the government, it is a question of tracing the narrow path towards the opening of active assistance in dying for adult patients suffering from an incurable disease, with a vital prognosis committed in the medium term. Without alienating caregivers or offending supporters of the “right to die with dignity” or the citizens’ convention, 75% are in favor of changing the law. "If there is a protest on both sides, it's a good sign...", the minister would slip to her interlocutors...".

Read the article (In English) on:

https://www.lefigaro.fr/actualite-france/fin-de-vie-l-executif-favorable-a-la-piste-du-suicide-assiste-20230808

Ritual Suicide and the Rite of Renunciation

Buddhism is the only ascetic tradition that firmly disapproved of suicide on any grounds whatsoever. The Buddhist tradition includes the wish to end one's life among the three desires that feed the fire of existence...

https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/ascetics-and-brahmins/ritual-suicide-and-the-rite-of-renunciation/BC561EF5FE5EA9EB1EBDCF7EE2555225

Le Monde with AFP, July 17, 2023, In Kenya, the toll of an extreme fast in an evangelical sect exceeds 400 dead

Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie advocated fasting to death to “meet Jesus.” In detention since April 14, he will be prosecuted in particular for “terrorism”. (Own translation)

Read the article (in French) on: https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2023/07/17/au-kenya-le-bilan-d-un-jeune-extreme-dans-une-secte-evangelique-depasse-les-400-morts_6182361_3212.html

La Libre, August 10, 2023, Deadly fast in Kenya: prolonged detention for the pastor accused of the Shakahola massacre

A court on Thursday extended the detention of self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, accused of fasting to death followers of his evangelical sect in a forest in southeastern Kenya, where 425 bodies were found.

Read the article (in French) on:

https://www.lalibre.be/international/afrique/2023/08/10/jeune-mortel-au-kenya-detention-prolongee-pour-le-pasteur-accuse-du-massacre-de-shakahola-MZXL2D65IVHTJBFIISNLHWKDEI/

Human life is priceless. We encounter sorrow, disappointment, and situations that make us contemplate death as an escape, yet suicide should never be considered a solution. Life's challenges test us from birth to death, and the exam doesn't always yield favorable results. But does that mean we should avoid the test altogether? Participation in exam is crucial. When faced with adversity, thoughts of suicide should be countered by seeking solace in religious texts, seeking mental health counseling, and remembering that countless individuals are struggling for survival in ICU beds, enduring more dire circumstances than our own, making the decision to end our own lives an unnecessary tragedy.

The New York Times, 15 hours ago, U.S. Suicide Deaths Rose in 2022, C.D.C. Estimates Say "...Suicides attributed to firearm injuries have been rising since 2006. In 2022, nearly 27,000 people died by gun-related suicide, surpassing earlier records ..." Read the article on:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/well/mind/suicide-deaths-2022-cdc.html

"Whilst principlism is a useful framework to address bioethical dilemmas, the principles alone are unable to resolve complex moral issues, including the ethics of abortion and euthanasia. Rather, the principles should be applied cautiously and judiciously in these debates. It is only in this way that the principles will usefully structure a debate and lead to ethical progress. It is not our intention with this essay to undermine the use of principlism in bioethics, but rather to highlight its limits as a framework so that it can be more fruitfully utilized as an ethical tool in bioethics discourse and medical education". This is how Rigby and Symons (2023) concluded their remarkable recent paper "Abortion, euthanasia, and the limits of principlism. Med Health Care and Philos. Available on:

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11019-023-10162-y#citeas

Preprint Domestic Homicide-Suicide: An Additional Type of Suicide

The issue of domestic murder-suicide poses the question of whether these acts should be viewed as either homicide or suicide, or whether they constitute a separate category of lethal acts altogether. Since the answer to this question is essential for building better risk- assessment tools, a crucial component in understanding the psychological makeup of these murderers should be their motivation. That is, what has activated the behavioral sequence of the murder-suicide. The current study addresses this question...

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for having raised the question of Murder-Suicide encountered in particular within households. This type of tragic incident may take many forms, and despite they are used equally, it is convenient to specify whether the lethal act is unintentional, we would then speak of “Homicide-Suicide”, or intentional to be qualified as “Murder-Suicide”, which even include mass killings.

I am reporting here the first paragraph of this very recent paper [1] by colleagues from Vietnam and China: an exquisite moment of reading! "In the classical novel Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky artistically and deliberately described the mental anguish and moral dilemmas of Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov, a young intellectual and sympathetic ex-law student living in Saint Petersburg’s slum. The inner conflicts of Raskolnikov arose in the interest of humanity when he saw miserable lives around him, leading to a utilitarian-altruistic justification for his crime: “Why not kill a wretched, rapacious, and “useless” old moneylenders and employ the funds to alleviate the human misery?” With that thought in mind, Raskolnikov determined to commit a murder but soon became overwhelmed by his sense of guilt. It has been more than a century since the novel was first published. However, many people still suffer from the mental anguish and moral dilemmas faced by Raskolnikov."

[1] Nguyen, M. H., & Jin, R. (2023). Near-suicide phenomenon: A collectivistic dilemma between life and morality. https://mindsponge.info/posts/191 L

Available on:

https://philarchive.org/archive/NGUNPA

La Libre, August 16 -2023, By Robin Gille Suicide of a Belgian after having discussed with an AI: a group files a complaint against the company Chai Research with the FPS Economy and the APD (Own translation) "It is the first time that in Belgium, and even in Europe, a 'chatbot' (chatbot) company has been the subject of a complaint. As Artificial intelligence develops in society, the warnings and other potential risks of the use of these tools are emerging. Last May, one of the pioneers of artificial intelligence, Geoffrey Hinton, resigned from Google, claiming to “regret his invention”. But tragedies have also already occurred. Last year, a young Belgian researcher, discouraged by the results of his latest publication, killed himself after many conversations that could be described as strange with Eliza, an AI developed by the American company Chai Research..."

Article in Frech on:

https://www.lalibre.be/economie/emploi/2023/08/16/suicide-dun-belge-apres-avoir-discute-avec-une-ia-un-collectif-depose-plainte-contre-la-societe-chai-research-aupres-du-spf-economie-et-de-lapd-RXLNWU7Y6RF5TCHW3VI3YQ5Z2A/

See also:

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Science_Conscience

AI also may help to predict and prevent suicide!

Artificial Intelligence-Based Suicide Prediction

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors are an international public health problem contributing to 800,000 annual deaths and up to 25 million nonfatal suicide attempts...

This trend has prompted government agencies, healthcare systems, and multinational corporations to invest in artificial intelligence-based suicide prediction algorithms. This article describes these tools and the underexplored risks they pose to patients and consumers...

https://yjolt.org/sites/default/files/21_yale_j.l._tech._special_issue_98.pdf

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for having mentioned the usefulness of AI in all areas, including in the prevention and warning of the phenomenon of suicides of all kinds. And thank you for the valuable link.

Morale: it is appropriate and essential to consider that AI is a double-edged sword

Publication Announcement: Hassan, Patrick 2024. Suicide in contemporary western philosophy I: the 19th century. Cholbi, Michael, ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Suicide, Oxford: Oxford University Press,

Abstract: This chapter explores some of the major developments in the philosophical understanding of suicide in 19th Century Western thought. Two developments in particular are considered. The first is a widespread shift towards thinking about suicide in medical terms rather than moral terms. Deploying methods initiated by a number of French and German thinkers in the preceding century who worked at the then emerging interface between the social and biological sciences, a number of 19th century thinkers ejected what they took to be old metaphysical superstitions about ‘good’ and ‘evil’, and replaced them with (allegedly) hard-nosed scientific diagnoses of ‘health’ and ‘sickness’. Dismissing traditional moral arguments against the permissibility of suicide, the phenomenon came to be viewed as a symptom of decline or degeneration. How variations of this view, in biological and social contexts, reorientated practical responses to suicide in terms of treatment rather than moral condemnation is explored. The second 19th century development in philosophical thought with respect to suicide the chapter considers concerns its place in one of the most significant controversies in Germany from 1860 to the turn of the century: the Pessimismusstreit or ‘pessimism dispute’. While philosophical pessimism might be thought to vindicate or even entail suicide, many of the most prominent pessimists—including Arthur Schopenhauer and Eduard von Hartmann—denied that this was the case, and perhaps surprisingly took suicide to involve a special kind of moral and/or epistemic failing. The chapter aims to elucidate the different arguments which pessimists appealed to in order to ground this position.

I enjoyed reading these thoughts on Honor, Life, and Dignity (Released 7 days ago) in a remarkable philosophical text by Pinzani, A. Living Honestly and Killing Honorably, Ehre and Ehrbarkeit in the Metaphysics of Morals. Studia Kantiana, vol. 21, n. 1 , 2023. Available on: https://revistas.ufpr.br/studiakantiana/article/viewFile/91537/49886

Abstract: This paper aims to call attention to some interpretative questions concerning a semantic constellation running through the entire Metaphysics of Morals. This semantic constellation has to do with the German root ehr- and refers to such concepts as ehrlich, Ehre, Ehrbarkeit, and Ehrlichkeit, which – although they have different meanings – share a connection to the central idea of the coincidence of honesty and honor, as shown by the Latin terms Kant often uses in the same context (honestas, honeste, etc.). It discusses how Kant uses the concepts of honesty and honor. It tries to answer the question of whether, according to Kant, it is acceptable to die for honor’s sake by analyzing some passages from the Metaphysics of Morals. Based on this analysis, it finally presents some conclusions on the concepts of dignity and agency and on their reciprocal relationship.

Reaching the conclusion, one may read "Far from being the object of an absolute, untouchable right grounded in innate dignity, life has to do with our capacity to be legal and moral agents. One could say that dignity and life are something that you should deserve. They depend on our acting; therefore, dignity is itself based on agency, exactly as life has value only for being the necessary condition for acting. We can lose our dignity (and our life) because of certain actions, even if we remain rational beings; or, better yet, precisely because we are rational beings able to be held responsible for our actions. According to Kant, we do not have rights as human beings, but rather as rational agents who assume full responsibility for their actions and who must bear the consequences. Agency becomes, therefore, literally a matter of life or death, since under certain circumstances, by acting against the Law, one can forfeit his right to the legal protection of one’s life by the State or can even lose his right to be considered a worthy human being, becoming instead a thing that can be possessed and disposed of at its master’s pleasure. This is a quite disturbing conclusion for our traditional vision of Kant’s practical philosophy. Yet, it opens up an interesting discussion on the right to life and on the right to kill that may extend much further than mere Kantian exegesis."

Academic performance in childhood and the risk of attempting suicide as an adult

Previous studies have identified education as an important indicator of future psychological outcomes through the lens of parental education level. Here, we seek to understand how education affects suicide through the perspective of the child's education...

Our findings suggest that reading and writing, and thus educational attainment at age 7, were predictive risk for suicide attempt in adulthood. Educators, parents, and mental health professionals should be aware of this association and monitor students who perform poorly academically for signs of depression and suicidal ideation, offering the appropriate support when necessary...

https://www.elsevier.es/en-revista-european-journal-psychiatry-431-articulo-academic-performance-in-childhood-risk-S0213616317300319

How War Revealed the Moral Dimension of Trauma is the title of a chapter by Lang, J. & Schott, R., released on 9 August 2023, DIIS: Dansk Institut for Internationale Studier. CID: 20.500.12592/178gc5. The book chapter "... explores the concept of ‘moral injury’ and how the psychological understanding of war has changed over the last twenty years. In 2006, at the height of the Iraq War, the U.S. military found itself in the middle of a mental-health crisis. More American soldiers were committing suicide than were being killed in action in Iraq, while reports estimated that one-third of the troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq might qualify for a psychiatric diagnosis. The counterinsurgency warfare in Afghanistan and Iraq had often blurred the distinction between combatants and non-combatants, confronting soldiers with difficult ethical decisions about when to use force. Already by 2003, 20% of U.S. soldiers and Marines reported having killed non-combatants. But mental-health experts lacked the vocabulary and methods to address the moral dimensions of trauma. Some psychologists and psychiatrists in the U.S. military began to use the term ‘moral injury.’ The term referred to the anguish of having been betrayed by one’s leaders, as well as the sense of having betrayed oneself, one’s friends, or one’s ideals".

A poignant text taken from the paper by Bregnbaek, S. 2011, A public secret: 'education for quality' and suicide among Chinese elite university students. Learning and Teaching, 4(3), 19-37: "In high school, we used to ask ourselves, why we should go to school when school means suffering. But suffering is necessary in order to get a better life. The more you suffer, the more you will gain. Now I have realized that this is not necessarily true. Some of the best students are the ones who work the least, and after graduation, I know that I may make a lot of money, but I will still have no time to do the things I like. An accountant works twenty hours a day. Only death is the end of suffering"

The paper is available on:

Article A public secret: 'education for quality' and suicide among C...

The family of a 26-year-old doctor in Japan who died by suicide last year after working more than 200 hours of overtime in a single month have pleaded for change in a nation long plagued by overwork culture...

The ensuing stress and mental health toll has even caused a phenomenon called “karoshi,” or “death by overwork” – leading to legislation meant to prevent death and injury from excessive work hours...

https://money.cnn.com/2016/11/30/news/economy/japan-workers-overwork-death/index.html

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/08/23/asia/japan-doctor-suicide-overwork-karoshi-intl-hnk/index.html

The rate of depression among college students is rising. In a 2021–2022 survey of students across 133 college campuses, 44% of students reported symptoms of depression and 15% reported seriously considering suicide in the past year.

Suicide is the second-leading cause of death in young people ages 20 to 24. While the factors that lead to suicide are multifaceted, being diagnosed with a mental illness like depression increases the risk...

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/college-students-and-depression

On the Right to Abortion: Far from any moral and even less religious interpretation of the issue of abortion, (religion comes under the principle of "freedom of conscience" absolute "human right"); one of the rational and objective questions that deserve to be addressed before discussing the right to abortion could be: Do we have the right to give birth (to give life to a child) without being sure of being able to give him love? Love should be understood as the minimum AFFECTION requirement that a human being should have to build himself.

Dear Jamel Chahed , I have taken part in the following discussion which is related to your last contribution on abortion. Many good contributions are available there.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Is_it_better_better_an_aborted_baby_than_an_unwanted_baby

Thank you Dear Ljubomir Jacić for the comment and for the link on the topic of abortion: I will be sure to check it out with interest.

Regards

Hereafter the first paragraph of the paper by Keown, D. (1996). Buddhism and suicide: The case of Channa. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 3(8), 8-31. In his 1983 paper “The 'Suicide' Problem in the Pàli Canon,” Martin Wiltshire wrote: “The topic of suicide has been chosen not only for its intrinsic factual and historical interest but because it spotlights certain key issues in the field of Buddhist ethics and doctrine.”1 I think Wiltshire was right to identify suicide as an important issue in Buddhist ethics2:

The paper is available on:

http://kusala.online-dhamma.net/%E6%96%87%E5%AD%97%E8%B3%87%E6%96%99/%E5%8D%97%E5%82%B3%E4%BD%9B%E6%95%99%E5%9C%96%E6%9B%B8%E9%A4%A8%20Theravada%20Buddhism%20E-Library/054%20%E9%9B%9C%E8%AA%8C%20Magazine/Journal%20of%20Buddhist%20Ethics/JBE/www.jbe.gold.ac.uk/3/keown.pdf

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1 Wiltshire, Martin G. (1983) “The 'Suicide' Problem in the Pàli Canon,” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 6, pp. 124-140. I am grateful to Lance Cousins, Peter Harvey and Richard Gombrich for comments on an earlier draft of this paper. A fuller discussion of suicide will be found in a forthcoming book on Buddhist ethics by Peter Harvey to be published by Cambridge University Press entitled An Introduction to Buddhist Ethics: Foundations, Values and Issues, and I am grateful to the author for sight of an advance copy of the relevant chapters

2 The literature on suicide includes L. de La Vallée Poussin “Suicide (Buddhist)” in The Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, ed. James Hastings (Edinburgh, Clark: 1922) XII, 24-26; Woodward, F.L. (1922) “The Ethics of Suicide in Greek, Latin and Buddhist Literature,” Buddhist Annual of Ceylon, pp. 4-9; Gernet, Jacques (1960) “Les suicides par le feu chez les bouddhiques chinoises de Ve au Xe siecle,” Mélange publiés par´l'Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises II, pp. 527-558; Filliozat, Jean (1963) “La Morte Volontaire par le feu en la tradition bouddhique indienne,” Journal Asiatique 251, pp. 21-51; Jan, Yün-hua (1964-5) “Buddhist Self-Immolation in Medieval China,” History of Religion 4, pp.243-268; Rahula, W. (1978), “Self-Cremation in Mahàyàna Buddhism,” in Zen and the Taming of the Bull, Gordon Fraser, London; Van Loon, Louis H. (1983) “Some Buddhist Reflections on Suicide,” Religion in Southern Africa 4, pp. 3-12; Lamotte, E. (1987) “Religious Suicide in Early Buddhism,” Buddhist Studies Review 4, pp. 105-126 (first published in French in 1965); Harvey, Peter (1987) “A Note and Response to ÔThe Buddhist Perspective on Respect for Persons'," Buddhist Studies Review 4, pp. 99-103; Becker, Carl B. (1990) “Buddhist views of suicide and euthanasia,” Philosophy East and West 40, pp. 543-556; Becker, Carl B. (1993), Breaking the Circle: death and the afterlife in Buddhism. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press; Stephen Batchelor, “Existence, Enlightenment and Suicide: the Dilemma of ¥àõavãra Thera,” unpublished paper given at The Buddhist Forum, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, December 8th 1993. Woodward refers to a discussion of the Channa episode in “Edmunds, Buddhist and Christian Gospels, ii, 58” but I cannot locate this passage. For more general treatments see Thakur, Upendra (1963), The History of Suicide in India. New Delhi: Munshiram Manoharlal; Suicide in Different Cultures, ed. Norman L. Farberow, Baltimore: University Park Press, 1975; Young, Katherine K. (1989), “Euthanasia: Traditional Hindu Views and the Contemporary Debate,” in Hindu Ethics. Purity, Abortion, and Euthanasia, eds. Harold G. Coward, Julius J. Lipner, and Katherine K. Young, McGill Studies in the History of Religions, ed. Katherine K. Young, Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, pp. 71-130, esp. pp.103-7. There is additional literature on ritual suicide in Japan (seppuku), but I see this practice as bound up with the Japanese Samurai code and as owing little to Buddhism (Becker apparently disagrees).

This relatively old article by Introvigne, M. (2002). “There is no place for us to go but up: new religious movements and violence. Social Compass, 49(2), 213-224", deals with instances of "mass suicide, homicide, and terrorism associated with New Religious Movements (NRMs), as opposed to violent movements claiming to be part of "old" religions such as Islam, Roman Catholicism, or Evangelical Protestantism.." Available on: https://www.academia.edu/download/48985994/Scansione_6.PDF