The Complex Dilemma of Suicide: David Hume’s Ethical Exploration

A complex phenomenon and existential question, the word suicide is derived from the Latin “sui” meaning oneself and “cidium” meaning killing. Popular opinions of suicide during David Hume’s time were grounded in Christian theology, namely Summa Theologiae by St. Thomas Aquinas. As summarized by the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy in an article on suicide, “Enlightenment philosophers tended to conceive of suicide in secular terms, as resulting from facts about individuals, their natural psychologies, and their particular social settings. 

David Hume gave voice to this new approach with a direct assault on the Thomistic position in his unpublished essay ‘Of suicide’ (1783).

Hume saw traditional attitudes toward suicide as muddled and superstitious.” Hume approaches this essay from a deontological (duty-based) perspective while writing from his trademark veins of skepticism and naturalism. He thinks that suicide can be morally permissible, and he writes about three duties and why each one allows suicide: to God, our neighbors, and ourselves. Hume’s reasons essentially offer counter arguments to the three reasons Aquinas gave for why it is unlawful to kill oneself in Summa Theologiae. 

1. To God – Hume seeks to change the culture of fear towards death in society and instead instill in men and women the courage to make decisions based on their own volition—for men have the ability and judgment to make decisions which they believe will lead to their own happiness. He writes that some are so unhappy that they cannot find peace even in sleep or in the idea of taking their life for fear of displeasing God, and that superstition forces them to stay alive, even though death seems preferable. This combination of superstition and cowardice “deprives men of all power over their lives…” Superstition of God’s retribution robs individuals of autonomy. 

Hume continues by saying that every single event is accounted for by the laws that govern the universe, and importantly, God lets us break those laws since nature continues without considering each individual human interest. Hume gives raises the question, if he can divert rivers, why can he not divert his blood flow? And if it would be against God’s province to take one’s life, then it would also be against God’s province to preserve life by moving out of the way of a falling boulder. 

2. To Others – Hume writes that suicide does not violate any duties towards other people. If I am old and burthen to my job, I can quit. I will do no harm to your work by quitting, rather I will only cease to do good. So why can I not quit life? If the continuation of my life is a burden to my community and preventing from someone more driven, powerful, and healthier, then it is in the public interest for me to take my life. Hume writes that moral duty between others is reciprocal. If I am alive and healthy, I render service to society.

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