It was a glorious death. Suicide. History Essay

It was a Glorious Death; Suicide
 It Was a Glorious Death; Suicide
Introduction
Suicide is the act of killing oneself. Suicide is a societal phenomenon cutting across all races, religions, and classes. According to data by World Health Organization, one person dies every 40 seconds through suicide globally (WHO, 2019). The American Psychology Association (APA) defines suicide is as the act of taking one’s own life, often as a result of mental illness or depression. The context around suicide has remained complex, with people having different perceptions depending on the situation in which suicide takes place, perceived reasons for the suicide, and the cultural and religious background of the ones involved. The paper seeks to understand why the idea of suicide exists and why different societies perceive it differently.
Historical Perspective of Suicide
The issue of suicide has received mixed reactions in different societies and periods in the history of human beings. Not only has it been condoned, but it has been condemned in equal measure (Britannica, 2020). Generally, the act of suicide is condemned by the dominant religions in the world, including Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Speaking against suicide, Pythagoras argued that the world has a finite number of souls from which when one is suddenly taken, it interferes with existing delicate balance (Stanford, 2005). On the other hand, Aristotle argued that suicide robbed the society of services of one of its members (Stanford, Suicide, 2004). Western philosophical discourse on suicide has been traced back to the time of Plato, a time when suicide received sporadic rather than systematic attention from the scholar (Stanford, Suicide, 2004). According to Cooper (1989, 10), neither ancient Latin or Greek had a single word that clearly defined suicide.
Plato discussed suicide in several of his works. In Phaedo, Plato seems to agree with Pythagoras in the sense that suicide is wrong because it involves releasing oneself a responsibility placed on us by the gods (Cope, 1875). In another work named Law, Plato explicitly stated that suicide is a disgrace, and perpetrators deserve to be buried in unmarked graves (Jowett, 1892). In his discussions, Plato identified several instances in which suicide would be permissible. First is when extreme unavoidable personal circumstances motivate the self-killing. Second is when an individual is guilty of participating in grossly unjust actions against other people. Further, Plato argued that it was okay for one to kill themself if their mind is irreversibly morally corrupt, and when done through judicial order (Stanford, Suicide, 2004). Despite their stance on suicide, the ancient philosophers were unable to provide a convincing argument to convince people towards a united position on suicide.
Plato, Pythagoras, and Aristotle are examples of philosophers who were concerned with the impact of suicide on the community. Philosophers, who supported suicide, cited the right of an individual to kill themselves to avoid personal circumstances (Laios, Tsoukalas, Kontaxaki, Karamanou, & Androutsos, 2014). The Stoics, for instance, considered death as a guarantee of individual freedom and an escape from difficult realities (Sei...