Background
My research topic will be an analysis of David Hume’s essay On Suicide. In his essay, Hume offers several possible justifications for suicide in accordance with God and the laws of nature. Even though this is primarily a philosophical paper, I will discuss religion as it pertains to what David Hume writes in his essay. For example, David Hume says that preventing the death of ones self is the same in the eyes of God as killing ones self, and I will discuss the logic of that in the eyes of God as Hume acknowledges. In my paper, I will attempt to disprove Hume’s arguments with evidence from well-renowned writers and scholars like Thomas Aquinas.
Proposal Abstract
The question regarding the ethics of suicide has been widely debated in the contemporary word, with scholars such as David Hume and Thomas Aquinas arguing on the matters of its justification, especially in the eyes of God. However, even though the perspectives from scholars like Hume have attempted to offer justifications for suicide in terms of religion, the assertions they make are based on analogies and logic that is completely flawed, also, they fail to sufficiently support their claims. Additionally, assertions made by scholars like these that do not take theological approaches fail to provide sound, ethical reasoning. My paper addresses the issue of suicide with special attention to these scholars and their arguments. In my project, I will examine works such as “On Suicide” by David Hume and “Summa Theologica” by Thomas Aquinas, in order to compare conflicting ideas on the ethics of suicide to prove there is no logical or ethical justification for suicide and address gaps in some arguments. I argue that suicide is theologically and naturally unjustifiable. By closely examining these scholars and their claims, this project aims to disprove the logic of David Hume and other philosophers on their view of suicide.
Annotated Bibliography
Beachamp, Tom L. “An Analysis of Hume’s Essay ‘On Suicide.’” The Review of Metaphysics, vol. 30, no. 1, 1976, pp. 73-95. JSTOR.
This essay addresses each of the three arguments that Hume makes about suicide, and highlights the weaknesses in each. For example, Hume argues that there is logically no natural difference between diverting the course of the Nile River, if it were possible, and diverting the course of the blood in our veins, i.e. slitting our wrists. This article points out that Hume fails to address the theistic contention that there is a distinction between laws of nature, the course of the Nile, and natural laws, suicide.
I selected this article because it aims to rebuke David Hume’s justifications for suicide, which is what I am also attempting to achieve with my research paper. Also, the author, Tom L. Beauchamp, is a well-renowned philosopher who specializes in the philosophy of David Hume, with many published philosophical books.
Macintyre, Alasdair, editor. “OF SUICIDE.” Hume’s Ethical Writings: Selections from David Hume, by David Hume, University of Notre Dame Press, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1979, pp. 297–306. JSTOR.
This is one of the most crucial pieces of literature that I will be using for my project. David Hume argues that suicide is justified for a few reasons. One reason is that if it is inherently wrong to divert the course of nature by killing ourselves, then it is also wrong to divert the course of nature by preventing a rock from falling on our heads. Another argument he makes is that there is no natural difference between diverting the course of the Nile River, if that were possible, and diverting the course of the blood in our veins. Hume also says that if it is wrong to commit kill ones self, then it should also be considered wrong to plough a field or sail across the ocean, considering these are all acts that make some kind of difference in the world. Specifically, he says that these acts are all either “equally innocent or equally criminal” (Hume). Even though the ethics of suicide is a philosophical topic, many of Hume’s arguments pertain to God or “the Almighty” which will make his essay easy to respond to considering what is written in the Bible.
Even though this essay was written a long time ago by the well-renowned philosopher David Hume, the essay is still relevant in the contemporary world considering how controversial the topic of suicide is. It seems that Hume’s purpose with this essay is to provide reasoning as to why suicide isn’t wrong in the eyes of God as many religious people do. The fact is, however, that Hume fails to use evidence. It is clearly written in the Bible and other religious texts that killing, to include suicide, is wrong. If he had addressed these texts, then he might have made a stronger case.
Cholbi, Michael, “Suicide”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2017 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.),
This is a recently published essay on the ethics of suicide. It is a useful source because it addresses the fact that suicide is a controversial topic and that it is often committed by people considered to be irrational. One strong argument that the author makes, which is in line with my argument that suicide is never justified, is the fact that human life is valuable, and Catholics and atheists alike believe in the value of human life. However, the author later states that if a person’s life is inherently bad, then it would be in the interest of that person’s life to commit suicide and would actually preserve the value of that person’s life. The author then states that suicide cannot be wrong in the eyes of God considering he gave us free will.
My response to the author’s points are simple. Since the author provided a theological argument, I will provide a theological answer. One of the purposes of the free will that God gave us is to protect ourselves from harm. Free will is God’s gift to us, and suicide would be an outright rejection of his gift. The author states that even though life is a gift to us from God, a true gift becomes our property, and we therefore have the right to do with it as we please, including suicide. To this I say again that a rejection of this gift would be a strong implication of ungratefulness to God, which would not bode well in his eyes. To address the point about if a persons life is so bad that suicide may be considered mercy, I may consider using an allusion to American POW’s in Vietnam. They were imprisoned and tortured for up to six years, but they were able to survive, which they directly credit to God and their daily praise of him. I will also discuss Thomas Aquinas’s view on suicide, which directly addresses this argument.
Gearing, R.E., Lizardi, D. Religion and Suicide. J Relig Health 48, 332–341 (2009)
This article, published in 2008, will be very useful for my research paper. It specifically discusses theological views on suicide, and why it is not tolerated. It points out that statistically, suicide is less prevalent in religious countries than secular countries. It also addresses the fact that suicide is not tolerated in Christianity, which is something that David Hume seems to disagree with in his essay. One of Hume’s major arguments in his paper is that suicide does not go against the laws of nature, because as he says, preserving ones life is equally as innocent or evil as killing ones self. The author of this article directly addresses this statement, saying that every living organism naturally desires to preserve one’s own life.
Aquinas, Thomas. Summa Theologica, Benziger Bros. 1947
This book by Thomas Aquinas will be used for my paper because it offers strong oppositions to the topic of suicide. Thomas Aquinas is a well-renowned Catholic Saint, but his book does not solely discuss theological standpoints on suicide. He also discusses why suicide goes against the laws of nature. The reason this source will be useful is because it directly addresses the argument that suicide is justified if a person’s life is bad. First, Aquinas states that death is solely in the hands of God, and therefore even if a person’s life is bad, suicide is unjust. Then, he says that the biggest evil in life is death and killing, to include killing ones self. To kill one’s self to escape from a bad life would be resorting to a greater evil, i.e. choosing the greater of two evils.
The fact that this book directly addresses the strongest counterargument of my topic is very useful because I believe that Aquinas’s points outweigh the counterarguments. It is also useful because David Hume addresses the idea of God in his essay, and Thomas Aquinas is a Saint in the Catholic church, which means that he has more authority on the matter. Aquinas also takes a strong non-theological stance, which is crucial for a philosophical paper.
Diamond, Cora. “The Problem of Impiety (Chapter 2) – Spirituality and the Good Life.” Cambridge Core, Cambridge University Press,
This essay will be useful for my paper because not only does it look at Hume’s arguments in his essay, it also discusses the rhetoric he uses to manipulate his readers. One of Hume’s biggest arguments is that it is not against the laws of nature to divert a stream of water in order to irrigate a field of crops, so it is equally appropriate to divert the course of the blood in our veins to end our lives. The author of this article points out that Hume makes it seem like diverting the course of blood in our veins is nothing more than changing the course of fluid, like diverting the course of a stream of water to irrigate a field. Hume puts suicide into a world of cause and effect, where diverting a stream causes a millwheel to turn, and diverting blood causes a collapse of the body, but he leaves out the moral implications, which puts this comparison into a whole new perspective.
This essay will be useful for my paper because unlike other sources I have discovered, this one analyzes Hume’s strategies for manipulating his audience. This is necessary because in order to properly disprove Hume, I will have to look at his rhetoric and why audiences may be persuaded by him.