suicide

Intentional self-killing. Wide definitions would include martyrdom and self-sacrifice; narrower definitions would be motivated by the thought that these cases are frequently noble and heroic, whereas suicide is a common object of moral prohibition. This prohibition was shaky in the early Christian tradition, and uncommon in other cultures, where suicide in various circumstances may be institutionally embedded. The ban was fortified in the middle ages and it became a bone of contention between Enlightenment thinkers, notably Hume, and conservatives such as Kant . Suicide became fashionable in the Romantic era, but diagnosed as the result of either psychological illness ( Freud ) or the pressures of social conditions ( Durkheim ) by the 20th century. An awakening perception of the intolerable ways the medical profession manages death, especially in the United States, has led to death-with-dignity movements, assisted by sympathetic physicians and self-help groups. See also euthanasia.