Seneca to Lucilius: 77, on taking one’s own life
<<>>
Warning: this essay is about suicide. If you are depressed or suffering from a mental condition that leads you to entertain suicidal thoughts, this article is not for you. Instead, call the suicide prevention hotline at 800–273–8255, or visit their web site.
<<>>
A Brave Man Once Requested Me
To Answer Questions That Are Key
‘Is It To Be Or Not To Be’
And I Replied ‘Oh Why Ask Me?’
’Cause Suicide Is Painless
It Brings On Many Changes
And I Can Take Or Leave It If I Please.
…And You Can Do The Same Thing If You Choose.
These are the closing words of the famous theme from M*A*S*H. Of course, suicide is not painless, at least emotionally for either the person making the decision or those who love such person. This may be why the Stoics paid particular attention to the topic of suicide, one on which their position was, for once, markedly different from that of their chief inspiration, Socrates.
In the Phaedo, one of four Platonic dialogues having to do with the last days of Socrates, the Athenian sage mounts an argument against the admissibility of suicide. The argument hinges on the…
