CW: Death, Suicide
The concept of death is something that has plagued humanity since the beginning of time. The idea of death is something that is terrifying for nearly everyone.
However, the fact of the matter is that we are going to die eventually, and we should prepare for this inevitable end. That’s where philosophy comes into play – thinking about answers for the one thing that is guaranteed in life (besides taxes) is reassuring for people.
Many ancient philosophers had something to say about the topic, but no one more than the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca. “It takes an entire lifetime to learn how to die,” Seneca wrote. He encouraged others to “study death always” and continued to turn to the subject again and again in all his writings.
The official title of the book is “How to Die” by Seneca (translated by James S. Romm). The book is set up in a few different parts: the English translation of letters from Seneca to a friend, then the original Latin text. There is also commentary about the time period and other important things that affect the perspective one might take when reading these ancient sets of texts.
As a philosophy major, I am very intrigued with the topic and concept of death. Anything to do with the deeper and darker side of life is something that I can mull over for a while. “How to Die” does a good job talking about this topic that I have been intrigued by.
Without giving away too much detail, “How to Die” is set up like a “how an effective and good death is essential to a good life.”
I liked the idea of his quote, “rehearse for death, always.” The idea that we must live our lives to the fullest to have the most fulfilling life is something that helps us “practice for death.” He stresses the universality of death, its importance and its ability to liberate us from pain, slavery or political oppression (all things that were issues when he was alive).
When the author talks about suicide, it is very important to acknowledge the time period that the author lived in. When he says that “people should commit suicide,” he is talking about it in the context of being free.
For example, the author writes a letter to a mourning mother of a son who committed suicide. In this instance, the son committed suicide due to the fact that, if he remained alive, he would have been executed.
In another instance, the author talks about hypothetical suicides. Here, the person is committing suicide due to the fact that, if they were to be alive, they would be a slave. Seneca’s argument is that death by suicide should be used as a way to take back life – by keeping themselves free by choosing their death.
Euthanasia is very similarly discussed by Seneca. However, it is interesting to see the way in which Seneca talks about the topic in a slightly different way. For him, euthanasia is a last resort.
As someone who struggles with mental health (if you know me, you might be picturing the semicolon tattoo on my wrist), I was not expecting this section of the book to have as much of a positive impact on me as it did.
The message of the above section, despite being pro-suicide, was something that has helped me to remember that living is something good. Finding something small to live for is good. The way in which I looked at the book is, “Don’t be so obsessed with living that you deny death. But don’t be so death-crazed that you deny life. Balance is always needed.”
Rather than solely being a guide to death, this book does a fine job at reminding people that life is worth living too. Death is one of those topics that cannot be avoided. For Secena, it is critical that we are prepared to live the best life that we can so we can have the best death possible.
