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PHIL 176: Death

Lecture 24 - Suicide, Part I: The Rationality of Suicide. This is the first of a series of lectures on suicide. Two very distinct contexts are presented in which the subject can be further explored. The first is rationality and the question of under what circumstances it makes sense to end one's own life. The second is morality and the question of whether we can ever ethically justify resorting to suicide. The lecture's focus is on the rational requirements of suicide, and Professor Kagan introduces a number of cases which demonstrate that ending one's life, in certain instances, may be rationally sound. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 24 - Suicide, Part I: The Rationality of Suicide

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Introduction to Suicide: Does It Make Sense?
[00:05:14] 2. When Is It Rational to Commit Suicide? Problems with the Two-State Requirement
[00:17:11] 3. Is Life Worth Having in the First Place? An Exploration of Intrinsic Value
[00:28:51] 4. Medical Complications: Rationale for Euthanasia
[00:37:35] 5. Suicide on a Positive-Negative Life Curve

References
Lecture 24 - Suicide, Part I: The Rationality of Suicide
Instructor: Professor Shelly Kagan. Resources: Figures 24.1-24.4 [PDF]. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Course Introduction
Lecture 02 - The Nature of Persons: Dualism vs. Physicalism
Lecture 03 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part I
Lecture 04 - Introduction to Plato's Phaedo; Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part II
Lecture 05 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part III: Free will and Near-death Experiences
Lecture 06 - Arguments for the Existence of the Soul, Part IV; Plato, Part I
Lecture 07 - Plato, Part II: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul
Lecture 08 - Plato, Part III: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul (cont.)
Lecture 09 - Plato, Part IV: Arguments for the Immortality of the Soul (cont.)
Lecture 10 - Personal Identity, Part I: Identity across Apace and Time and the Soul Theory
Lecture 11 - Personal Identity, Part II: The Body Theory and the Personality Theory
Lecture 12 - Personal Identity, Part III: Objections to the Personality Theory
Lecture 13 - Personal Identity, Part IV; What Matters?
Lecture 14 - What Matters (cont.); The Nature of Death, Part I
Lecture 15 - The Nature of Death (cont.); Believing You will Die
Lecture 16 - Dying Alone; The Badness of Death, Part I
Lecture 17 - The Badness of Death, Part II: The Deprivation Account
Lecture 18 - The Badness of Death, Part III; Immortality, Part I
Lecture 19 - Immortality Part II; The Value of Life, Part I
Lecture 20 - The Value of Life, Part II; Other Bad Aspects of Death, Part I
Lecture 21 - Other Bad Aspects of Death, Part II
Lecture 22 - Fear of Death
Lecture 23 - How to Live Given the Certainty of Death
Lecture 24 - Suicide, Part I: The Rationality of Suicide
Lecture 25 - Suicide, Part II: Deciding under Uncertainty
Lecture 26 - Suicide, Part III: The Morality of Suicide and Course Conclusion