In Schopenhauer’s view suicide is an unreasonable act, not because it is contrary to moral law, social duties or the divine will, but because it is the wrong way to respond to the suffering of life that arises from the contradiction between the “will” (desire) present in each individual, and the limitations associated with its spatial and temporal nature. The individual wants to satisfy his needs, but comes into conflict with other individuals who have different needs from his and also with the external reality that is sometimes a barrier to him. The true form of liberation from suffering, however, is not to commit suicide, but to renounce desire and will. Only thus can the individual achieve that state of peace and tranquillity that Buddhists call "nirvana”. But this is only possible if we let pain teach us, according to the formula: life → pain → knowledge → denial → salvation. On the contrary, instead of allowing reason and renunciation to triumph, the person who commits suicide lets this opportunity definitively escape him. He destroys his own body just because he wants happiness, but cannot achieve it. Suicide is thus a form of strong assertion of the will. In him the will triumphs, in that it destroys the individual's body before the pain breaks the will.

Il suicidio in Arthur Schopenhauer

GARAVENTA, Roberto
2009-01-01

Abstract

In Schopenhauer’s view suicide is an unreasonable act, not because it is contrary to moral law, social duties or the divine will, but because it is the wrong way to respond to the suffering of life that arises from the contradiction between the “will” (desire) present in each individual, and the limitations associated with its spatial and temporal nature. The individual wants to satisfy his needs, but comes into conflict with other individuals who have different needs from his and also with the external reality that is sometimes a barrier to him. The true form of liberation from suffering, however, is not to commit suicide, but to renounce desire and will. Only thus can the individual achieve that state of peace and tranquillity that Buddhists call "nirvana”. But this is only possible if we let pain teach us, according to the formula: life → pain → knowledge → denial → salvation. On the contrary, instead of allowing reason and renunciation to triumph, the person who commits suicide lets this opportunity definitively escape him. He destroys his own body just because he wants happiness, but cannot achieve it. Suicide is thus a form of strong assertion of the will. In him the will triumphs, in that it destroys the individual's body before the pain breaks the will.
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11564/176748
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