Philosophy of Suicide: Camus, Schopenhauer & Existentialism

Introduction: The Act and the Reason

Suicide involves two sides: the act and the reason. The reason — the philosophy of suicide — is what justifies the act to the person committing it. In this sense, to the actor, the means justify the end: the act of killing oneself justifies the philosophy of taking one's own life.

The Act of Suicide: Scope and Contributing Factors

Suicide is defined as self-murder, or the intentional act of taking one's own life. Some of the main contributors to suicide are depression, shame, financial difficulties, the desire to avoid pain, substance abuse, and other perceived undesirable fates. In the vast majority of societies, suicide is regarded as wrong. In most Western and Asian religions, it is considered a dishonorable act or a sin. In many Western nations, suicide is treated as a serious crime against the sanctity of life.

Suicide is most often considered a result of untreated mental health and psychological issues. For example, an inability to cope with depression, escape from fear or suffering, or manage mental disorders frequently leads individuals to believe that suicide is their only choice. On the other hand, some suicides — especially those involving younger people — are viewed not as a genuine desire to die but as a need for attention or a "cry for help."

The annual number of suicides makes the act a public health epidemic. Over one million people die by suicide each year. An estimated ten to twenty million people attempt suicide annually, though the vast majority of first attempts are unsuccessful. Nations with some of the highest rates of suicide include Russia, the United States, Japan, and China. More men die by suicide, while more women attempt it. Among all demographics, elderly males have the highest rate of suicide deaths.

There are numerous reasons why a person may contemplate suicide, which makes it difficult for healthcare professionals to diagnose a potential problem. Depression is most often an indicator of suicidal intent; however, suffering, stress, crime, catastrophic injury, adverse environments (including abuse, poverty, and homelessness), financial loss, self-sacrifice, terrorism, shame or dishonor, and loneliness are all recognized suicide risk factors.

Mental health conditions are also leading triggers. Not only does depression frequently lead to suicide, but illnesses such as bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, anorexia, bulimia, and post-traumatic stress disorder are also implicated. Up to 98% of all suicide victims are believed to be suffering from some form of mood disorder or substance abuse issue at the time of the act. For individuals with schizophrenia, suicide is often triggered by depression associated with the disease or by hallucinations. For those with bipolar disorder, suicide is often impulsive and occurs during a severe mood swing.

Existentialism as the Philosophy of Suicide

From the analysis of the act above, it can be generalized that a feeling of isolation from society is a central driver of suicide. Whether rooted in depression, self-sacrifice, mental illness, or financial hardship, all of these situations cause the individual to feel cut off from society. The philosophical concept that best describes this pervasive sense of isolation is existentialism.

According to existentialist philosophy, the individual human creates the meaning and essence of their own life. Existentialism emerged as a dominant philosophy during the twentieth century. At its most fundamental level, it argues that due to the absence of a transcendental force — such as a god — all individuals are free and therefore responsible for their actions. It is thus up to the individual to construct a personal ethos, which is the only way one can rise above the human condition of suffering, death, and finality.

In the context of suicide, existentialism frames the act as the individual's surrender to the absurdity of human life. When a person is unable to create meaning from the absurdity surrounding them, they endure the typical life of pain, suffering, and death. In this sense, suicide is a natural expression of human existence — because human existence is, more accurately viewed, a form of non-existence.

Two leading existentialist thinkers were Albert Camus and Arthur Schopenhauer. Although Schopenhauer predated the existentialist movement, his philosophy laid the groundwork for the concepts of human absurdity and the inherent pain and suffering of life. Camus, by contrast, is considered a leading twentieth-century philosopher and writer of existentialist thought. Together, these two thinkers explain the philosophy of suicide through the concepts of human absurdity, the naturalness of pain and suffering, and the inability to give meaning to life. Both argue that the act of suicide is a natural response to the inability to cope with a society that simply does not make sense.

Bibliography

Camus, Albert. (1991): The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays. New York: Knopf Publishing Group.

Flynn, Thomas. (2006): Existentialism: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Guignon, Charles B. (2001): Existentialism: Basic Writings. New York: Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Schopenhauer, Arthur. (1966): The World as Will and Representation. Dover Publications.