Death and Dying in Antiquity

pythagoreans

time period: 530 BC

• embraced SOL

• belief system based on 3 core beliefs

  1. God exists

  2. It is an individual’s highest moral duty to obey God’s commands

  3. You are forbidden, as an individual, from taking your life

• human life is incalculable

socrates

469 BC to 399 BC

1. you cannot intentionally hasten your death because the pythagoreans say that it is not permitted

2. however, you do not have to follow all pythagorean doctrine

• irked Romans so much that they sentenced him to death

• was given a chance to escape his death and he denied - which, basically violates his own principle and “commits suicide”

• martyr

plato

time period: 427 BC to 347 BC

• didn’t believe that the pythagoreans were correct

• believed that you could intentionally hasten your death based on these exceptions only:

  1. if you have been ordered by the state to die

  2. if you have encountered devastating misfortune

  3. if you have faced intolerable shame

aristotle

384 BC to 322 BC

• suicide is unethical not because it offends a “God”

• intentionally hastening your death is wrong because it offends the state and government

• reason: you are not able to then perform your duties, owed by every citizen, to the state

cynics

400 BC to 325 BC

• you can have an intentionally hastened death if you can no longer live rationally/your rational thought has been impaired

• “for the conduct of life, we need either reason or the noose”

seneca

stoic philosopher

• 1st Century

• you can have an intentionally hastened death

• there is no longer any good or evil associated with it

• voluntary death is an act “par excellence”

• no need to have a signal from God or anyone

• it is your choice

• “the wise man will live as long as he’s ought, not as long as he can

epictetus

stoic philosopher

• 55 AD to 135 AD

• believes in par excellence

• you can die but not as intensely or as quickly

• do not follow what seneca says; wait for signal from God

• “Men wait upon God, when he shall give you the signal to depart and set you free of service, then you may depart”

• influences of early christianity

eudaimonistic ethics

ethics: humanistic medicine

• cause and effect

• patient-wellbeing/flourishing seen as the ultimate concern

• no overarching SOL ethos exists yet

• moving away from religious practices

• euthanasia or abortion was permitted by most physicians to alleviate physical and mental suffering

hippocratic oath

“I will not give a lethal injection to anyone if asked nor will I advise such a plan; and similarily I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion”

1. prohibition on euthanasia

2. commitment to healing

hypocritical

• rigidity in life preservation = causing undue harm

• question of: harm vs healing

early Christian views surrounding martyrdom

all believed that martyrdom was something to aspire to

• ignored SOL ethos/not established

• admired death and the beginning of everlasting life

  1. group mass

  2. martyrdom i.e., Roman-assisted suicide

heresy

“wrong” belief

• beliefs or practices that deviate from established religious doctrine

  • opposes official teachings = death/execution

orthodox

“right” belief

• beliefs that align with the officially accepted doctrines of a religious institution

Ignatius of Antioch

orthodox

• believed that dying willingly for God’s sake

• do not interfere with fellow Christians

Tertullian

orthodox

• a true believer would commit to martyrdom

• better to injure the flesh than to preserve it

Gnostics

hersey

• against martyrdom

• do not confess to earthly authorities about your faith (i.e,. Romans) - you do not need to declare your faith

• confess to God

• when you arrive in heaven confess

Saint Justin Martyr

orthodox

• a true Christian would never deny their faith like Gnostics do

  • denial: scorn upon the community

secondary martyrdom

a situation where someone experiences significant suffering or sacrifice due to their association with a primary martyr, often within a religious or social context

• cult behaviour

Clement of Alexandria (early views)

a true orthodox Christian:

1. can readily give up his life

2. avoid denying his faith

3. does not fear death

Clement of Alexandria (late views)

too many Christians dying due to martyrdom

• his mind shifts

• “don’t go looking for death”

• if the opportunity arises, expect to declare your faith and die

• wait for a signal - Epictetus

Saint Augustine

believed that

1. suicide is now outlawed

2. provoking martyrdom is outlawed

3. any form of homicide is outlawed

anyone who commits suicide

• will receive eternal hellfire

• kill you again publicly

• cannot be buried on sacred ground

• nail your body on a barrel and cast it into the water

• confiscate all your family assets to the state

Augustinian Reversal

anything that the Greeks/Romans believed about euthanasia and abortion is now taboo

Thomas Aquinas

his beliefs based on SOL

1. suicide deprives society of the roles you are expected to play

2. suicide defies the natural instinct to live

3. suicide is unnatural

4. suicide offends God, the provider of all life

Vaticans

beliefs:

1. suicide, euthanasia are a rejection of God’s sovereignty

2. denies natural instinct to live

3. flight from your God-given duties

saint paul

• His beliefs start to shift

• "Obedient until death" - from Saint Paul (chapter from reading)

• If we don't have followers, we don't have a religion

• Maybe it is better to be obedient until death