
Login

Recent Talks
Suicide, Literature and Philosophy – To be or not to be? | Suicide, Literature and Philosophy – To be or not to be? |
|
|
30 June: Suicide, Literature and Philosophy – To be or not to be? - Abhijit PalSuicide is a popular theme in both literature (eg. Shakespeare) and philosophy (eg. Camus referred to it as the only truly serious philosophical problem). In the increasing awareness of mental health issues, why have both fields been largely absent from discourse on suicide? Current attitudes are based on the medical model of suicide, as a pathological state in need of treatment (antidepressants and CBT). What are the reasons for this absence and what is to be done?
Introduction
Hypotheses
“There is but one truly serious philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” Camus • Philosophy, as it is used here, refers to the process of self-reflection, examination and thought – not the body of work which falls under philosophy. Philosophical inquiry asks the questions a suicidal patient answers irreversibly, but in a non suicidal state of mind, leading to the possibility of a satisfying answer
• Other examples of suicide in literature
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Suicide features prominently in Shakespeare’s works (do they contribute to the appeal?), with Romeo and Juliet killing themselves, in Julius Caesar, Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Hamlet. These works are held up as the hallmark of Western literature, and suicide is such a prominent theme in all of them – why is this, and how can it be useful in psychiatry? o Dostoyevsky’s “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man”
Suddenly I noticed in one of these patches a star, and began watching it intently. That was because that star had given me an idea: I decided to kill myself that night. I had firmly determined to do so two months before, and poor as I was, I bought a splendid The main idea is that its ok to ask questions about life, and that there can be a meaningful discourse about it. Not that there are solutions. But that other people have thought about it and the person isn’t alone. So the flip side of preventing suicide is promoting life, and providing rational, understandable reasons for living. Obviously there is a plurality of ways to live, but validating and accepting the questions in culture and society.
Affirmation of Life/Rejection of Suicide Thoughts If we’re meaning seeking creatures (always wondering about the meaning of life), it makes sense for psychiatrists to help people find meaning in their circumstances. Evidently there is abundant scope for meaning in any one set of circumstances, because by its nature it is subjective (if the person believes it, it works) and transcendent (meaning is independent of the action – two people do X (go to a party, study medicine, work a 9 to 5 job, play cricket) and report vastly different experiences, usually contingent on the meaning they placed on that activity
Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.23
3.23 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||

