Suicide is a puzzling phenomenon. Not only is its demarcation problematic but it also eludes simple explanation. The cultures in which suicide mortality is high do not necessarily have much else in common, and neither is a single mental illness such as depression sufficient to lead a person to suicide. In a word, despite its statistical regularity, suicide is unpredictable on the individual level. The main argument emerging from this collection is that suicide should not be understood as a separate realm of pathological behavior but as a form of human action. As such it is always dependent on the decision that the individual makes in a cultural, ethical and socio-economic context, but the context never completely determines the decision. This book also argues that cultural narratives concerning suicide have a problematic double function: in addition to enabling the community to make sense of self-inflicted death, they also constitute a blueprint depicting suicide as a solution to common human problems.

Suicide is a puzzling phenomenon. Not only is its demarcation problematic but it also eludes simple explanation. The cultures in which suicide mortality is high do not necessarily have much else in common, and neither is a single mental illness such as depression sufficient to lead a person to suicide. In a word, despite its statistical regularity, suicide is unpredictable on the individual level. The main argument emerging from this collection is that suicide should not be understood as a separate realm of pathological behavior but as a form of human action. As such it is always dependent on the decision that the individual makes in a cultural, ethical and socio-economic context, but the context never completely determines the decision. This book also argues that cultural narratives concerning suicide have a problematic double function: in addition to enabling the community to make sense of self-inflicted death, they also constitute a blueprint depicting suicide as a solution to common human problems.

List of Figures and Tables

Introduction: Culture, Suicide, and the Human Condition
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo and Miira Tuominen

PART I: SUICIDE: CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES

Chapter 1. The Construction of the Suicidal Self in Phenomenological Psychology
Charles J-H Macdonald and Jean Naudin

Chapter 2. When it is Worth the Trouble to Die: The Cultural Valuation of Suicide
María Cátedra

PART II: ANCIENT AND MEDIEVAL APPROACHES TO SUICIDE

Chapter 3. “Tell Him to Follow Me as Quickly as Possible” – Plato’s Phaedo (60c–63c) on Self-Killing
Miira Tuominen

Chapter 4. Free Philosophers and Tragic Women – Stoic Perspectives on Suicide
Malin Grahn

Chapter 5. Moral Philosophical Arguments against Suicide in the Middle Ages
Virpi Mäkinen

PART III: MORALITY, POLITICS, AND VIOLENCE - SUICIDE IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETIES

Chapter 6. “She Kissed Death with a Smile”: The Politics and Moralities of the Female Suicide Bomber
Susanne Dahlgren

Chapter 7. “When We Stop Living, We also Stop Dying” – Men, Suicide, and Moral Agency
Marja-Liisa Honkasalo

Afterword
Arthur Kleinman

Notes on Contributors