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5 - Suicide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 March 2020

Clifford Williams
Affiliation:
Trinity International University, Illinois
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Summary

Chapter 5 asks two questions: Does finding a meaning for life prevent people from killing themselves? Do any of the four ways of acquiring meaning described in Chapter 4 prevent people from killing themselves? The first question has rarely been asked by philosophers. Albert Camus, in his The Myth of Sisyphus, was an exception, but his thoughts are limited only to the first way of acquiring meaning - achieving goals. The suicidal persons whose stories I tell in the chapter regarded only the last way of acquiring meaning - loving and being loved - to be what helped them deal with their suicidal impulses. They did so because the first three ways of acquiring meaning were largely irrelevant to their emotional pain. Chapter 5 also asks whether believing in God prevents people from killing themselves. The answer is that it can and sometimes does.

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Chapter
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Religion and the Meaning of Life
An Existential Approach
, pp. 79 - 96
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Suicide
  • Clifford Williams, Trinity International University, Illinois
  • Book: Religion and the Meaning of Life
  • Online publication: 23 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108377317.006
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  • Suicide
  • Clifford Williams, Trinity International University, Illinois
  • Book: Religion and the Meaning of Life
  • Online publication: 23 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108377317.006
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Suicide
  • Clifford Williams, Trinity International University, Illinois
  • Book: Religion and the Meaning of Life
  • Online publication: 23 March 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108377317.006
Available formats
×