Suicide and Radical Self-definition of Subject in David Hume

Abstract

The paper reveals the relationship between basic ontological conceptions of David Hume and his ethics. The subject of the study is Hume’s explanation of the acceptability of suicide as a radical way of expressing the individual’s own identity. Suicide is presented by Hume as a logical consequence of the human being’s actual ontological constitution. It is considered not as a violation of moral duty, let it be to the supreme principle, the social environment, or to himself. The justification of suicide is based on deistic worldview.