On the antinomy of suicide with special consideration of the Schopenhauerian philosophy

Abstract

Arthur Schopenhauer was a nineteenth century German philosopher renowned for his concept of “Will” and his pessimism. Since Schopenhauer wrote his principle work in 1819 some scholars have argued that certain aspects of Schopenhauer’s philosophy are inconsistent. In my dissertation (“The Antinomy of Suicide with special consideration of the Schopenhauerian Philosophy) I have focused on one particular “inconsistency” in Schopenhauer’s philosophy, viz. Schopenhauer’s claim that although the Will is present in even the most austere ascetics, at the moment of death it mysteriously dissolves in such an individual. I argue that only if the ascetic perishes by the ancient Jain practice of Santhara (i.e. suicide by starvation) is the Will abrogated as a phenomenal entity and caused to reduce in size as a noumenal entity. I also discuss in great detail why the practice of Santhara ought to be considered the pinnacle of rationality and morality according to the Schopenhauerian philosophy.