The recent suicide by VG Siddhartha, the founder of CCD is very thought provoking. In the recent past, so many farmers have committed suicide because of failed crops and financial pressure. VG's suicide was also because of a failed (or at least that's what he believed) business and financial pressure (again, that's what we know so far). So in both the cases, the reasons were more external than internal. There could be other external factors at work, like bad government policies or lack of support from others, etc. But the fact remains that the external factors caused so much stress to all of them that they decided to end their lives rather than live through it.
Having said that, why don't animals commit suicide? They have more dependency on external factors for their very survival. Is it because they are so used to fighting for their basic needs that they never feel the stress? or is it that they are incapable of feeling stress? Either ways, it probably sounds like their inherent response to the external stress-causing factors is different than ours. Maybe because we think more or maybe because of our "self-realization" or self-reflection that the animals possibly don't have. Or maybe it's our ability to interpret and imagine that causes us to foresee possible (negative) options and dwell on them more, leading them to avoid the associated pain by terminating the path itself without focusing on other possible paths.
Religions have their own views about suicide. They generally look at it from the moral perspective of right and wrong. However philosophers look at it from a different perspective. Probably the most famous philosopher to contemplate suicide was Albert Camus. In a lighter vein, he said "Should I kill myself or have a cup of coffee?". But in a more serious way he said "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." What he's trying to say is that if, as an example, one considers coffee to be a meaningful part of one's existence, then one should choose that and choose to live another day.
Stoic philosopher Epictetus uses an analogy to explain his view about suicide - that of a house on fire, full of smoke. He says, "Don't believe that your situation is genuinely bad - no one can make you do that. Is there smoke in the house? If it's not suffocating, I will stay indoors; if it proves too much, I will leave. Always remember - the door is open." One of Epictetus's friends was trying to starve himself to death for apparently no good reason. To him he said - "If your decision is reasonable, we are by your side. But if it's unreasonable, then you ought to change it."
It's precisely this interpretation of the situation or the decision as reasonable or unreasonable that is tough. The stoics believe that we would never know when our time is up. However, that's precisely why we should live every moment to the fullest. In the here and now. Seneca says, "Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by." Epictetus views, "A limit of time is fixed for you, which if you do not use for clearing away the clouds from your mind, it will go and you will go, and it will never return." While saying all of this, the stoics also know in their hearts that the door is always open. So they believe in grabbing that cup of coffee today, knowing well that they can always choose to leave from that open door anytime when the smoke becomes unbearable.
But while choosing to leave, one should never forget the impact it's gonna have on others around us. One should always remember what one of Simone de Beauvoir's characters from her book says about her death - "My death does not belong to me. It's the others who would live my death."
Having said that, why don't animals commit suicide? They have more dependency on external factors for their very survival. Is it because they are so used to fighting for their basic needs that they never feel the stress? or is it that they are incapable of feeling stress? Either ways, it probably sounds like their inherent response to the external stress-causing factors is different than ours. Maybe because we think more or maybe because of our "self-realization" or self-reflection that the animals possibly don't have. Or maybe it's our ability to interpret and imagine that causes us to foresee possible (negative) options and dwell on them more, leading them to avoid the associated pain by terminating the path itself without focusing on other possible paths.
Religions have their own views about suicide. They generally look at it from the moral perspective of right and wrong. However philosophers look at it from a different perspective. Probably the most famous philosopher to contemplate suicide was Albert Camus. In a lighter vein, he said "Should I kill myself or have a cup of coffee?". But in a more serious way he said "There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide." What he's trying to say is that if, as an example, one considers coffee to be a meaningful part of one's existence, then one should choose that and choose to live another day.
Stoic philosopher Epictetus uses an analogy to explain his view about suicide - that of a house on fire, full of smoke. He says, "Don't believe that your situation is genuinely bad - no one can make you do that. Is there smoke in the house? If it's not suffocating, I will stay indoors; if it proves too much, I will leave. Always remember - the door is open." One of Epictetus's friends was trying to starve himself to death for apparently no good reason. To him he said - "If your decision is reasonable, we are by your side. But if it's unreasonable, then you ought to change it."
It's precisely this interpretation of the situation or the decision as reasonable or unreasonable that is tough. The stoics believe that we would never know when our time is up. However, that's precisely why we should live every moment to the fullest. In the here and now. Seneca says, "Hold every hour in your grasp. Lay hold of today's task, and you will not need to depend so much upon tomorrow's. While we are postponing, life speeds by." Epictetus views, "A limit of time is fixed for you, which if you do not use for clearing away the clouds from your mind, it will go and you will go, and it will never return." While saying all of this, the stoics also know in their hearts that the door is always open. So they believe in grabbing that cup of coffee today, knowing well that they can always choose to leave from that open door anytime when the smoke becomes unbearable.
But while choosing to leave, one should never forget the impact it's gonna have on others around us. One should always remember what one of Simone de Beauvoir's characters from her book says about her death - "My death does not belong to me. It's the others who would live my death."
2 comments:
Very well written Neeraj ! Awesome philosophical musings !
Very good try to write about suicide and choise but also difficult to understand article by person like me
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