The Oxford Handbook of the Philosophy of Suicide

Suicide is a perennial subject of philosophical interest, but also one with a great deal of contemporary currency. While multi-disciplinarity is essential in the study of suicide, some of the key questions concerning suicide are unavoidably philosophical: Can suicide be, in certain situations, morally permissible or even morally obligatory? Can it be a rational choice? What are our obligations toward suicidal individuals? And how should we even define suicide? The goal of this volume is to amalgamate research that pursues these questions as well as to expand the frontier of philosophical discourse concerning suicide to include its heretofore neglected ethical and social aspects. To this end, the thirty-four chapters that constitute this handbook have been divided into three parts. In the first part, readers will find a critical overview of the most important historical philosophical approaches to suicide. The order of the chapters is chronological, and attention has been directed to both Western and non-Western philosophical traditions. The second part of the volume is dedicated to foundational issues such as the nature, morality, and rationality of suicide. The third and final part is devoted to philosophical issues related to the practice of suicide. Contributions contained in this part address topics such as the ethics of suicide prevention and intervention, new suicide technologies, suicide and mental illness, suicide and media ethics, and suicide and gender, among others.