Suicide in French Thought from Montesquieu to Cioran

Suicide stems in large part from the human condition and, as such, is not a problem that can be solved. Former draconian and punitive laws against it have in the main been eliminated, but it remains a stigma and a heartache. In the twentieth century, suicide has become a problem for sociologists, psychiatrists, and social policymakers to «solve.» In past centuries, however, suicide was a subject most fit for philosophers, theologians, writers, and, as the nineteenth century progressed, phys...