Reply to Nadler: Spinoza and the metaphysics of suicide

Steven Nadler has argued that Spinoza can, should, and does allow for the possibility of suicide committed as a free and rational action. Given that the conatus is a striving for perfection, Nadler argues, there are cases in which reason guides a person to end her life based on the principle of preferring the lesser evil. If so, Spinoza’s disparaging statements about suicide are intended to apply only to some cases, whereas in others (such as the case of Seneca) he would grant that suicide is dictated by reason. Here, I object to Nadler’s interpretation by showing that it conflicts with Spinoza’s metaphysical psychology. Even given Nadler’s interpretation of the conatus doctrine, the possibility that reason could guide a person to commit suicide is incompatible with the conatus of the mind. Spinoza holds that the mind cannot contain an adequate idea ‘that excludes the existence of our body’ (E3p10). Yet, as I argue, in order for reason to guide a person voluntarily to end her life, she would need to have an adequate idea representing her death – an idea that excludes the existence of her body. For this reason, Spinoza's system rules out the possibility of rational suicide.     

Rational suicide?

Abstract

Two competing paradigms of suicide imply different views of whether suicide can be rational. The first, the “received orthodoxy” of mental health professionals for more than a century, views all suicides as irrational and holds that suicidal persons should always be prevented from ending their own lives. The second grants that most suicides are irrational, but claims suicide may sometimes be a rational option. Lokhandwala and Westefeld's argument manifests the conflict between these two paradigms: After initially granting that suicide may be a rational option for some people, they in effect urge mental health professionals to presume in practice that any suicidal patient is irrational. Patients for whom suicide might indeed be rational will be ill-served by mental health professionals who follow Lokhandwala and Westefeld's advice.     

Can Shneidman's “Ten Commonalities of Suicide” Accommodate Rational Suicide?

Shneidman's (1985 ) commonly reproduced “Ten Commonalities of Suicide” cannot accommodate rational suicide, as the concept has been defined in recent literature, and therefore are not “commonalities” of all suicides. Quotes from Shneidman describing the “commonalities” are provided and selected items are briefly examined in light of one set of criteria for rational suicide. It is suggested that Shneidman's list, which is inherently biased against allowing for the possibility of rational suicide, be renamed so that its contents will not continue to be inappropriately used as evidence that suicide cannot be rational.     

Reply to lokhandwala and westefeld

Abstract

Lokhandwala and Westefeld's article highlighting the ethical dilemma in rational suicide raises the pragmatic question of how one would actually assess a client's situation. A particularly relevant diagnosis that should be ruled out is clinical depression. The DSM-IV lists nine symptoms of major depressive disorder, eight of which could easily be masked as symptoms of the physical illness or side effects of treatment. These symptoms can be grouped into three categories: central features of depression, physical signs of depression, and cognitive signs of depression. All three of these categories, particularly physical signs, could easily be mistaken for medical problems. Reviewing the nine criteria for a diagnosis of clinical depression might be a good way to explore the possibility of clinical depression in a terminally ill person who is supposedly making a “rational” decision to commit suicide.     

Spinoza on Lying and Suicide

Spinoza is often taken to claim that suicide is never a rational act, that a ‘free’ person acting by the guidance of reason will never terminate his/her own existence. Spinoza also defends the prima facie counterintuitive claim that the rational person will never act dishonestly. This second claim can, in fact, be justified when Spinoza's moral psychology and account of motivation are properly understood. Moreover, making sense of the free man's exception-less honesty in this way also helps to clarify how Spinoza should, and indeed does, recognize the possibility of rational suicide.     

Suicide: A decade review of the sociological literature

Major works on suicide are reviewed and classified into four analytic categories according to their theoretical emphasis: cultural, economic, modernization, and social integration perspectives. The research under these paradigms is assessed in terms of four themes. First, attention is drawn to research evidence that questions traditional theories. An example is Durkheim's position on social class and suicide. Second, the review notes several new theories including Phillips’ imitation thesis and the author's own model of migration's effects on suicide. Third, the paper observes and reviews explanations of new trends in suicide rates such as the rapid increase in youth suicide and the decline in suicide among the elderly. Finally, the review calls attention to explanations of suicide, such as that linking suicide to low marital solidarity, that have withstood the test of the more rigorous empirical testing of recent times.     

Is Jessie right to end her life?

Presupposing that our consideration of ethical issues can be enriched by examining literary works, this paper focuses on Marsha Norman's play ‘night, Mother. The play describes the last hour and a half in the life of Jessie, a young woman who decides to die by suicide. Before ending her life, Jessie explains to her mother her reasons for her suicide. In the context of the play, these are presented as quite weighty and as, perhaps, justifying her decision. Scholarly research on the play has also treated Jessie's suicide favorably. In this paper I argue that Jessie, and people in similar conditions, are wrong to die by suicide. Among other points, I criticize Jessie's arguments from the impossibility to improve life; the assured termination of suffering; the badness of the world; and the right for suicide. I also criticize arguments in the scholarly literature that view Jessie's suicide favorably, such as the arguments from independence, heroism, authenticity, and emotional closeness.     

Resolving Ethical Dilemmas in Suicide Prevention: The Case of Telephone Helpline Rescue Policies

The ethical basis of suicide prevention is illustrated by contrasting helpline emergency rescue policies of the Samaritans and the AAS and the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. We contrast moralist, relativist, and libertarian ethical premises and question whether suicide can be rational. Samaritans respect a caller's right to decide to die by suicide; U.S. helplines oblige emergency intervention during an attempt even against the caller's will. We analyze the effect of emergency rescue when there is high suicide risk but an attempt has not been initiated. We examine links between values and actions, needs for empirical evidence to guide practice, and propose vigorous dialogue about values in the gray zone of moral practice.     

A Five‐Month Longitudinal Study of Psychache and Suicide Ideation: Replication in General and High‐Risk University Students

Shneidman's (1993) model of psychache as the cause of suicide was evaluated in a 5‐month longitudinal study of psychological pain and suicide ideation. Replicating across general (N = 683) and high‐risk undergraduates (N = 262), psychache was significantly associated with suicide ideation, and change in psychache was significantly associated with change in suicide ideation. For general suicide ideation and suicide preparation, these significant results were maintained even when depression and hopelessness were statistically controlled. This research is a unique contribution being the first large‐sample longitudinal study that evaluates and supports Shneidman's psychache causal model of suicidality in general and high‐risk groups.     

Rational suicide and the crisis of terminal illness

Abstract

One of the controversial issues facing counselors in the 1990s is whether or not suicide may be considered a rational choice for clients with terminal illness. This article begins by reviewing the definition of rational suicide and the literature and statistics pertaining to suicide and terminal illness. Then various issues related to rational suicide as a treatment option are addressed, including moral and ethical issues.     

Rational Suicide: An Empirical Investigation of Counselor Attitudes

This study investigated attitudes of mental health counselors toward rational suicide. Over 80% of respondents were moderately supportive of the idea that people can make well‐reasoned decisions that death is their best option, and further, they identified a consistent set of criteria to evaluate such decisions. Additionally, analyses revealed that as the scenario moved from client, to friend, to self, rational suicide seemed to gain in acceptability for these professionals. Implications for training and practice in light of the apparent responsibilities with suicidal clients defined in the 1995 American Counseling Association's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice are discussed.     

A response to the critique of rational choice theory: Lakatos' and Laudan's conceptions applied

This paper analyzes the main features of rational choice theory and evaluates it with respect to the conceptions of Lakatos' research program and Laudan's research tradition. The analysis reveals that the thin rationality assumption, the axiomatic method and the reduction to the micro level are the only features shared by all rational choice models. On these grounds, it is argued that rational choice theory cannot be characterized as a research program. This is due to the fact that the thin rationality assumption cannot be understood as a hard core in Lakatos' terms. It is argued that Laudan's conception of a research tradition better characterizes rational choice theory. On the basis of this conclusion, certain important criticisms of rational choice theory are answered. First, the criticisms concerning the core assumptions of rational choice theory are countered. It is argued that this critique is based on a misunderstanding of rational choice theory as a unified set of models, such as Lakatos' research program. Second, Green and Shapiro's rational choice ‘pathologies’ – inconsistent predictions, post hoc theory development and arbitrary domain restrictions – are evaluated. Contrary to Green and Shapiro, it is argued that post hoc theory development is a more preferable strategy for developing RCT than domain restrictions based on ex ante rules.     

Salvation and Suicide: What Does Islamic Theology Say?

Abstract : The Islamic soteriological doctrine advocates good deeds and God's mercy as the pre‐requisites for human salvation. This article introduces these two important dimensions of the Muslim belief of salvation. In contemporary settings it addresses some of the motives behind the spate of suicide bombings by Muslims and argues that taking one's own life is totally forbidden in Islam. The moving notion that suicide bombing is an open door to salvation is, therefore, untenable. Whatever the mitigating factors, there is no legitimacy in Islamic Law (shariah) to the crime of suicide or the derived terrorism.     

Suicide in Maine: A Social Psychological Approach

ABSTRACT: This paper reports the results of a field study on five proximal social psychological variables derived from Farber's theory of suicide: Hope in the Future Time Perspective; Demands for Interpersonal Giving; the Availability of Succorance; Demands for the Exercising of Competence; and the degree of Toleration of Suicide. The subjects were mature, long-term residents of counties of Maine that proved stable in their relative rate of suicide. The value for each variable was assessed by a questionnaire devised for this purpose by the author. The differences between the mean scale scores for the high and low suicide areas were analyzed by t-tests. The between group differences for all variables were significant at or beyond the .01 level of significance. A correlational study indicated that the relationship among the five variables was compatible with Farber's theory of suicide. The research generally offers strong support for Farber's theory of suicide at the social psychological level of analysis.     

Suicidality Disclosed Online: Using a Simulated Facebook Task to Identify Predictors of Support Giving to Friends at Risk of Self‐harm

Although peer support in response to online disclosures of suicidality may be imperative for suicide prevention efforts, little is known as to how often support is provided or what predicts giving support. This study addresses this issue by investigating the odds of providing peer support in response to simulated online disclosures of suicidality. While interacting with a simulated Facebook newsfeed, participants (N = 690, M_age = 20.24, 527 female) were given the opportunity to leave comments on two posts disclosing low, moderate, or severe risk for suicide. Participants also completed questionnaires on their symptoms of depression and anxiety, experience with a loved one's suicidality, and Facebook use strategies. Only 33.6% of participants left a positive, supportive comment on at least one of the two suicide posts. Content severity, experience with a loved one's suicide attempts, and use of Facebook to meet people were predictive of providing positive comments. These findings suggest that young adults vary in their propensity to provide support after encountering a suicide disclosure online and that giving support is driven by a combination of contextual and intrapersonal factors.     

What is Wrong with Rational Suicide

Recently, the ‘right to die’ became a major social issue. Few agree suicide is a right tout court. Even those who believe suicide (‘regular’, passive, or physician-assisted) is sometimes morally permissible usually require that a suicide be ‘rational suicide’: instrumentally rational, autonomous, due to stable goals, not due to mental illness, etc. We argue that there are some perfectly ‘rational suicides’ that are, nevertheless, bad mistakes. The concentration on the rationality of the suicide instead of on whether it is a mistake may lead to permitting suicides that should be forbidden.     

Gender and Suicide in India: A Multiperspective Approach

The gap between male and female suicide rates in India is relatively small. However, society's views on female and male motives are quite different. In order to investigate the perceptions of male and female suicide, we interviewed a focus group of university professors as well as police inspectors, crime reporters, and hospital nurses in Bangalore. We also obtained four narratives of suicide. Women tended to be blamed for their own or their husband's suicide, although they were also viewed more often as victims of life adversities than men. A historical review illustrates that both men and women have been associated with culturally sanctioned suicides. One known form is sati, and we discuss the recent case of sari-murder of Roop Kanwar in 1987. The social sciences and the media also pay a lot of attention to the typical female suicides, symbolizing their role as martyrs of society, which seems to compensate for attribution of blame.     

RECURRING THEMES IN THE DEBATE ABOUT EUTHANASIA AND ASSISTED SUICIDE

During the past four decades, the Netherlands played a leading role in the debate about euthanasia and assisted suicide. Despite the claim that other countries would soon follow the Dutch legalization of euthanasia, only Belgium and the American state of Oregon did. In many countries, intense discussions took place. This article discusses some major contributions to the discussion about euthanasia and assisted suicide as written by Nigel Biggar (2004) , Arthur J. Dyck (2002) , Neil M. Gorsuch (2006) , and John Keown (2002) . They share a concern that legalization will undermine a society's respect for the inviolability and sanctity of life. Moreover, the Report of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Assisted Dying for the Terminally Ill Bill (2005) is analyzed. All studies use ethical, theological, philosophical, and legal sources. All these documents include references to experiences from the Netherlands. In addition, two recent Dutch documents are analyzed which advocate further liberalization of the Dutch euthanasia practice, so as to include infants (Groningen Protocol, NVK 2005 ) and elderly people “suffering from life” (Dijkhuis Report, KNMG 2004 ).     

Purity and danger in the solar temple

Based on research conducted in Québec, this study explores the shape of the social life, apocalyptic ideology and authority structure of the Ordre du Temple Solaire (OTS) or Solar Temple within the framework of Mary Douglas's typology of ‘group and grid’. The pollution fears and purity rituals of this controversial new religious movement are analysed as an important factor in their decision to orchestrate a religiously‐motivated mass suicide/homicide, explained in their suicide documents as a ‘transit’ (a magical feat of soul travel) to the Star Sirius. Douglas's insights into how the human body becomes a ‘natural symbol’ for small, persecuted groups, mirroring the social body and the vulnerability of its exits and entrances vis‐à‐vis the surrounding culture, are applied to the alternative patterns of sexuality and parenting in the OTS. It is suggested that the magical aspect of the mass suicide expressed a concern for purity and for protecting the boundaries of their community. It is also suggested that the ritual homicides in Morin Heights resemble the ‘witch‐hunts’ characteristic of Douglas's ‘small society’ that conceives of itself as the perfect, impermeable vessel.     

Acquired Capability for Suicide,Pain Tolerance,and Fearlessness of Pain—Validation of the Pain Tolerance Scale of the German Capability for Suicide Questionnaire

The interpersonal theory of suicide (Joiner, 2005) postulates that for a serious suicide attempt, one has to possess the acquired capability to commit suicide. Acquired capability includes higher pain tolerance, which is further assumed to comprise both an elevated physical pain tolerance and fearlessness of pain. Recently, the German Capability for Suicide Questionnaire (GCSQ) was validated. The aim of this study is further validation of the GCSQ's Pain Tolerance scale by investigating the scale's association with objective pain tolerance and fearlessness of pain in two undergraduate samples (N = 81; N = 76). Both associations were found indicating a strong criterion validity of the Pain Tolerance scale.