Altruistic suicide

Altruistic suicideis the sacrifice of one's life in order to save or benefit others, for the good of the group, or to preserve the traditions and honor of a society. It is always intentional.Benevolent suiciderefers to theself-sacrificeof one's own life for the sake of the greater good.^[1]Such a sacrifice may be performed for the sake of executing a particular action, or for the sake of keeping a natural balance in the society.

Altruistic suicide was seen byÉmile Durkheimin his bookSuicide: A Study In Sociologyas the product of over-integration with society.^[2]^[3]Real-life examples in his book include "a soldier choosing to go to war for his family/community/country". However, this type ofcategorizationremained controversial, as it downplayed the valor of such actions.^[4]According to Durkheim,altruisticsuicide contrasts withegoisticsuicide,fatalisticsuicide, andanomicsuicide.

In contrast, a "sacrifice" which is committed by the force of astateis referred to aseugenicsormass murder,but may be otherwise referred to as "enforced population limits" or "population control". In literature, examples may promote the concept as a means for ending enduring types of socialconflict,or else deride the concept as an example of adystopianfuture society.^[5]

Rituals

If a person willingly ends his or her own life, it is not necessarily considered a tragic death.^{[citation needed]}Émile Durkheimnotes that in some cultures there is a duty to intentionally commit ritual suicide.

AJapanese samuraiintentionally ends life (seppuku) to preservehonorand to avoid disgrace.Indian,Japanese, and otherwidowshave participated in an end-of-life ritual suicide after the death of a husband, although Westernized populations have abandoned this practice. The Indian practice of widow suicide is calledsati,and often entails the widow lying down on her husband’sfuneral pyrein an act ofself-immolation.The elderly members of certain cultures intentionally ended their lives, in what is termed assenicide.Inhunter-gatherersocieties,^[6]death "was determined for the elderly... normally characterized by a liminal period and ceremonies in which the old person was transferred from the present world to the next."

Durkheim also observes that altruistic suicide is unlikely to occur much in contemporary Western society where "individual personality is increasingly freed from the collective personality".^[7]Altruistic suicide has been described as anevolutionarily stable strategy.^[8]Altruistic suicide has a long history in India, even being noted in theDharmashastras.^[9]Some perceive self-immolation as an altruistic or "worthy" suicide.^[10]

Emergencies

In contemporary Western society, this is seldom referred to assuicide,and most often referred to as an act ofheroism.This only exists in times of emergency, and is always lauded, and is perceived as a tragic death.^{[citation needed]}

Self-sacrificial acts of heroism, such asfalling on a grenade,is one example.^[11]Intentionally remaining on the deck of a sinking ship to leave room in the life rafts, intentionally ending one's life to preserve the resources of a group in the face of deprivation, and the like are suicidal acts of heroism.Firefighters,law-enforcement individuals,undercover agents,sailors, andsoldiersmore often are at risk of opportunities for this form of unplanned self-sacrifice. These are all a result of tragic, life-threatening, emergencies. It is only an emergency measure, a voluntary but unwanted end to the person's life. It is never a result of long-term planned action, yet may involve some short-term planning. Examples of this includeVince Coleman,a telegraph operator who saved hundreds of lives by sending out a warning about an imminent explosion.

Protests

Thailand

Nuamthong Praiwan,a taxi driver who attempted suicide, drove his taxi into atankin protest after themilitary coup of 2006.He was later found hanging from apedestrian footbridge.Officials found a suicide note and later ruled his death a suicide.^[12]

In 2020,Khanakorn Pianchana,a Thai judge, committed suicide to protest theThai justice system.He made a suicide attempt in October 2019, when he shot himself in the chest with a pistol in theYala provincecourt, after he acquitted five men on murder and firearms charges due to lack of evidence and reading a short statement, in order to protest against interference in the justice system. He died in a second attempt in March 2020, after being subject to investigations following his actions.^[13]

Tibet

As of May 2022, 160 monks, nuns, and ordinary people haveself-immolatedinTibet^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]as a form of protest against since 27 February 2009, whenTapey,a young monk fromKirti Monastery,set himself on fire in the marketplace inNgawa City, Ngawa County,Sichuan.^[18]^{[verification needed]}According to theInternational Campaign for Tibet(ICT),^[19]"Chinese police have beaten, shot, isolated, and disappeared self-immolators who survived."^[20]

Tunisia

Tarek el-Tayeb Mohamed Bouaziziwas aTunisian street vendorwho set himself on fire on 17 December 2010 inSidi Bouzid,Tunisia, an act which became a catalyst for theTunisian Revolutionand the widerArab Springagainst autocratic regimes. Hisself-immolationwas in response to the confiscation of his wares and the harassment and humiliation inflicted on him by a municipal official and her aides.

United States of America

Norman Morrisonwas an Americananti-war activist.On November 2, 1965, Morrison doused himself in kerosene and set himself on fire below the office ofSecretary of Defense Robert McNamaraatthe Pentagon^[21]to protestUnited Statesinvolvement in theVietnam War.North Vietnamnamed aHanoistreet after him, and issued a postage stamp in his honor.^[22]Instead of increasinganti-warsentiment, much of the attention this act received in the West focused on speculating why Morrison brought hisinfant daughteralong.^[23]This may be because public suicides inthe Westtend to be viewed through the same lens as other forms ofsuicideattributed to causes such aspsychiatric disorder,instead of as a form ofprotest,perhaps due toChristian valueshistorically associated with these cultures.^[23]

On April 22, 2022, climate activistWynn Alan Bruceset himself on fire in the plaza of theUnited States Supreme Court BuildinginWashington, D.C.The fatal self-immolation, which took place on Earth Day, was characterized by Bruce's friends and his father as a protest against theclimate crisis.

On February 25, 2024, American serviceman Aaron Bushnellpassed away after lighting himself on fireoutside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C., to protest the Israeli government's conduct in theIsrael–Hamas warandhis own government's support of Israel.

Vietnam

In 1963, Vietnamese monkThich Quang Duccommitted altruistic suicide through the means ofself-immolation.He did this to protest the treatment of Buddhist practicing peoples by the South Vietnamese government.^[24]^[25]

References

^Lewis B. Smedes (9 March 1989).Mere Morality: What God Expects from Ordinary People.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 114–.ISBN 978-0-8028-0257-6.
^Robert L. Barry (1 January 1996).Breaking the Thread of Life: On Rational Suicide.Transaction Publishers. pp. 13–.ISBN 978-1-56000-923-8.
^Steven J. Jensen (1 September 2011).The Ethics of Organ Transplantation.CUA Press. pp. 187–.ISBN 978-0-8132-1874-8.
^"What are Emile Durkheims four Types of Suicide".Actforlibraries.org.Retrieved2022-06-16.
^Rysa Ket.ReadOn.Rysa. pp. 1–. GGKEY:PJG0JH7UBZD.^{[permanent dead link]}
^Brogden, Michael (2001).Geronticide: Killing the Elderly.London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd. p.57.ISBN 978-1-85302-709-3.
^Deniz Yükseker,Lecture on Emile Durkheim,archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-16,retrieved2010-06-20
^Mascaro, Steven; Kevin B. Korb; Ann E. Nicholson (2001). "Suicide as an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy".Advances in Artificial Life.Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 2159. pp. 120–132.doi:10.1007/3-540-44811-X_12.ISBN 978-3-540-42567-0.
^Vijayakumar, Lakshmi (January 2004). "Altruistic suicide in India".Archives of Suicide Research.1(8): 73–80.doi:10.1080/13811110490243804.PMID 16006390.S2CID 41567060.
^Coleman, Loren (2004).The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines.New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon and Schuster. p.48.ISBN 978-0-7434-8223-3.
^Blake, JA (Spring 1978). "Death by hand grenade: altruistic suicide in combat".Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.8(1): 46–59.doi:10.1111/j.1943-278X.1978.tb01084.x.PMID 675772.S2CID 37732899.
^Taxi driver 'sacrificed himself for democracy'
^"Senior judge dies in second suicide bid".Bangkok Post.7 March 2020.Retrieved7 March2020.
^Fadiman, Anne (2020-07-28)."The Chinese Town That Became the Self-Immolation Capital of the World".The New York Times.ISSN 0362-4331.Retrieved2020-10-21.
^"Tibetan Monk Dies After Self-Immolating In Eastern Tibet".Free Tibet.Retrieved20 May2017.
^Wong, Edward (11 April 2015)."Nun Sets Herself on Fire to Protest Chinese Rule in Tibet".The New York Times.Retrieved11 April2015.She was the second woman to set herself on fire this year and the 138th Tibetan to do so since 2009 in Tibetan regions ruled by China, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group based in Washington.
^"Self-immolations".International Campaign for Tibet.Retrieved2022-07-17.
^Edward Wong (June 2, 2012)."In Occupied Tibetan Monastery, a Reason for Fiery Deaths".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 3,2012.
^Self-immolation fact sheet,(2 December 2019),https://savetibet.org/tibetan-self-immolations/
^Ross, Tracy (24 September 2019)."Tibet Is Still Burning".Outside.Retrieved21 October2020.
^"The Pacifists",Time Magazine,November 12, 1965; accessed July 23, 2007.
^BBC (21 december, 2010).A life in flames: Anne Morrison Welch
^^a ^bAbraham, Margaret (2015)."The Intersections of Protest Suicides, Oppression and Social Justice".Journal of the Brazilian Sociological Society.1(1): 17–31.Retrieved7 December2023.
^Oliver, Mark (2017-10-03)."The Full Story Of The Burning Monk Who Changed The World".All That's Interesting.Retrieved2022-10-16.
^VBC (2021-06-10)."Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist Monk Who Lit a Match and Sparked a Revolt in 1963".Veterans Breakfast Club.Retrieved2022-10-16.

[Smedes1989-1] Lewis B. Smedes (9 March 1989).Mere Morality: What God Expects from Ordinary People.Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. pp. 114–.ISBN 978-0-8028-0257-6.

[Barry1996-2] Robert L. Barry (1 January 1996).Breaking the Thread of Life: On Rational Suicide.Transaction Publishers. pp. 13–.ISBN 978-1-56000-923-8.

[Jensen2011-3] Steven J. Jensen (1 September 2011).The Ethics of Organ Transplantation.CUA Press. pp. 187–.ISBN 978-0-8132-1874-8.

[4] "What are Emile Durkheims four Types of Suicide".Actforlibraries.org.Retrieved2022-06-16.

[Ket-5] Rysa Ket.ReadOn.Rysa. pp. 1–. GGKEY:PJG0JH7UBZD.^{[permanent dead link]}

[6] Brogden, Michael (2001).Geronticide: Killing the Elderly.London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers Ltd. p.57.ISBN 978-1-85302-709-3.

[7] Deniz Yükseker,Lecture on Emile Durkheim,archived fromthe originalon 2011-07-16,retrieved2010-06-20

[8] Mascaro, Steven; Kevin B. Korb; Ann E. Nicholson (2001). "Suicide as an Evolutionarily Stable Strategy".Advances in Artificial Life.Lecture Notes in Computer Science. Vol. 2159. pp. 120–132.doi:10.1007/3-540-44811-X_12.ISBN 978-3-540-42567-0.

[9] Vijayakumar, Lakshmi (January 2004). "Altruistic suicide in India".Archives of Suicide Research.1(8): 73–80.doi:10.1080/13811110490243804.PMID 16006390.S2CID 41567060.

[10] Coleman, Loren (2004).The Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow's Headlines.New York: Paraview Pocket-Simon and Schuster. p.48.ISBN 978-0-7434-8223-3.

[11] Blake, JA (Spring 1978). "Death by hand grenade: altruistic suicide in combat".Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.8(1): 46–59.doi:10.1111/j.1943-278X.1978.tb01084.x.PMID 675772.S2CID 37732899.

[12] Taxi driver 'sacrificed himself for democracy'

[13] "Senior judge dies in second suicide bid".Bangkok Post.7 March 2020.Retrieved7 March2020.

[14] Fadiman, Anne (2020-07-28)."The Chinese Town That Became the Self-Immolation Capital of the World".The New York Times.ISSN 0362-4331.Retrieved2020-10-21.

[innertrot-15] "Tibetan Monk Dies After Self-Immolating In Eastern Tibet".Free Tibet.Retrieved20 May2017.

[NYT41115-16] Wong, Edward (11 April 2015)."Nun Sets Herself on Fire to Protest Chinese Rule in Tibet".The New York Times.Retrieved11 April2015.She was the second woman to set herself on fire this year and the 138th Tibetan to do so since 2009 in Tibetan regions ruled by China, according to the International Campaign for Tibet, an advocacy group based in Washington.

[17] "Self-immolations".International Campaign for Tibet.Retrieved2022-07-17.

[NYTKirti-18] Edward Wong (June 2, 2012)."In Occupied Tibetan Monastery, a Reason for Fiery Deaths".The New York Times.RetrievedJune 3,2012.

[ICT-19] Self-immolation fact sheet,(2 December 2019),https://savetibet.org/tibetan-self-immolations/

[20] Ross, Tracy (24 September 2019)."Tibet Is Still Burning".Outside.Retrieved21 October2020.

[21] "The Pacifists",Time Magazine,November 12, 1965; accessed July 23, 2007.

[22] BBC (21 december, 2010).A life in flames: Anne Morrison Welch

[Protest_Suicides-23] Abraham, Margaret (2015)."The Intersections of Protest Suicides, Oppression and Social Justice".Journal of the Brazilian Sociological Society.1(1): 17–31.Retrieved7 December2023.

[24] Oliver, Mark (2017-10-03)."The Full Story Of The Burning Monk Who Changed The World".All That's Interesting.Retrieved2022-10-16.

[25] VBC (2021-06-10)."Thich Quang Duc, the Buddhist Monk Who Lit a Match and Sparked a Revolt in 1963".Veterans Breakfast Club.Retrieved2022-10-16.

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