The Weird Connection Between Stoicism And Suicide

Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism, held his breath and passed away after he fell and broke his nose painfully.

Cleanthes, the successor of Zeno, starved himself to death.

Cato the Younger took out his guts with his bare hands to escape Julius Caesar’s tyranny.

Brutus, the boy who killed his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, later fell by the sword of his hand.

Nero ordered Seneca to commit suicide.

Thrasea, the fearless Stoic, was also forced to commit suicide by the emperor Nero.

You don’t have to be an Einstein to understand that something weird is going on here.

We could say that Seneca and Thrasea were forced to end their lives…

But still—they had no problem doing it.

Seneca told his friends, who were crying about his situation, “What is this? Where are your philosophical principles? Where is your training?”

Thrasea didn’t even bother to complain.

And what about the rest?

Why would someone starve themselves to death?

Or take their guts out with their own hands!?

Did the Stoics have a natural inclination toward killing themselves?

Or, perhaps, were they just a bunch of maniacs?

To better understand their motives, we first have to look at their philosophy, especially what Stoicism says about death.

Stoicism divides everything into two categories: under our control and not under our control.

Death belongs to the things that are not up to us.

The Stoics judged as good or bad only what was under their control.

But according to them, external events could not be either good or bad—exactly because they weren’t the ones who decided about them.

So when Seneca and Thrasea had to commit suicide, they had no choice but to accept it; it was not under their control.

Cleanthes and Zeno decided that their time had come, so they did what they had to do.

And when Cato and Brutus left painfully for the underworld, they did it because death was preferable to a life of slavery. (Both of them were advocates of democracy, and if Julius Caesar stepped on the throne, tyranny would emerge).

So, for the Stoics, life was not the ultimate gift if it meant not living it according to their values.

And if they couldn’t do that—live according to their values—death was the best option.

Weird?

Who are we to judge?

“This is what they thought was best for them,” as Epictetus said.

Till next time,

Said The Stoic

PS. To learn more about the Stoic views on death, life, and sex, grab Epictetus’ book The Enchiridion. It’s only a 60-minute read and quite the classic.