Suicide in Roman Philosophy

The topic of suicide plays a prominent role in the writings of Roman philosophers such as Cicero, Lucretius, Seneca, and Epictetus. Although this can easily be viewed as a manifestation of pessimism or even morbidity, this chapter contends that they actually considered suicide—whether as an act or as a possibility one contemplates—as an essential component of happiness in two different ways. First, they considered that a well-reasoned suicide is not only permissible, but sometimes necessary—either to avoid evil and misery, or as something intrinsically good, insofar as it leads to a good afterlife or is itself an expression of a happy disposition. Second, these philosophers’ discussions about committing or contemplating suicide can be viewed as one of the self-transformative or “ascetic” practices that Pierre Hadot labels “spiritual exercises” and Michel Foucault calls “techniques of the self.” According to these scholars, ancient philosophy (and Roman philosophy in particular) was characterized by a special concern with self-transformation that involved as a central element training for death. Roman discussions about suicide—with their emphasis on the need to think about and be prepared for it, as well as their use of metaphors and examples to help visualize and familiarize oneself with it—are thus not only a way to help prepare for death, but also a means of transforming oneself to attain tranquility, freedom, and happiness, whether or not one ever comes to commit suicide.

Accident (philosophy) · Afterlife · Commit · Element (criminal law) · Expression (computer science) · Happiness · Impossibility · Pessimism · Classical Antiquity Studies · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods · Suicide and Self-Harm Studies