Fatal Freedom: The Ethics and Politics of Suicide

by Thomas Szasz

Fatal Freedom is an eloquent defense of every individual’s right to choose F a voluntary death. By maintaining statutes that determine that voluntary death is not legal, Thomas Szasz believes that our society is forfeiting one of its basic freedoms and causing the psychiatric medical establishment to treat individuals in a manner that is disturbingly inhumane. Society’s penchant for defining behavior it terms objectionable as a dis­ease has created a psychiatric establishment that exerts far too much influ­ence over how and when we choose to die. In a compelling argument that clearly and intelligently addresses one of the most significant ethical issues of our time, Szasz compares suicide to other practices that historically began as sins, became crimes, and now arc seen as mental illnesses.

Genres: Philosophy, Psychology, Politics, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Psychological, Psychiatry

Paperback

First published November 30, 1998

About the author

Thomas Stephen Szasz (pronounced /sas/; born April 15, 1920 in Budapest, Hungary) was a psychiatrist and academic. He was Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, New York. He was a prominent figure in the antipsychiatry movement, a well-known social critic of the moral and scientific foundations of psychiatry, and of the social control aims of medicine in modern society, as well as of scientism. He is well known for his books, The Myth of Mental Illness (1960) and The Manufacture of Madness: A Comparative Study of the Inquisition and the Mental Health Movement which set out some of the arguments with which he is most associated.

Reviews

[The Angry Lawn Gnome · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Dr. Szasz is extreme in some of his views -- a point upon which I am still undecided -- he certainly logically consistent, looks at empirical facts and does not engage either in either wishful thinking or euphemism. I unfortunately do not have time to give this work the in-depth review it deserves, but hope to do so when I re-read this in a few months.

I would have liked to have given this book a five star rating, but the one thing about Szasz that rather sticks in my craw is one source of his funds: the Church of Scientology. Not that I think the Xenu-heads exert any influence over him -- he is far too much the iconoclast. But, to take money from them is to take tainted dollars, from a criminal enterprise masquerading as a religion. Szasz should know better.

[Vlad Veen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trigger Warning: suicide, personal experiences of suicide, suicidal thoughts.

Suicide: once a sin, then a crime, and now a mental illness. In Fatal Freedom, American psychiatrist Thomas Szasz defends the right to choose voluntary death against coercive elements of the psychiatric establishment, namely civil commitment and involuntary treatment. In his view, just as we have a right to birth control, so too must we have a right to death control.

I found this book edifying. Szasz's exploration of the historical and legal treatment of voluntary death was fascinating. Historically, it was legally prohibited, and the state would confiscate the suicide's property. Starting in the 19th century, lawyers started to use the insanity defense, contending that suicides were ipso facto insane and thus absolved of criminal responsibility. Religious authorities adopted similar rationales.

Like a lot of libertarian arguments, I can only meet it halfway. I too am weary of psychiatry's history of unwarrantedly treating certain practices and identities as a medical problem (e.g., medicalizing homosexuality). I respect Szasz's concern for patients' rights and autonomy. I also do not think that suicidality is always a sign of insanity, mental illness, or dysfunction (and thus justify placing people in a hospital against their will).

But, for many, including me, suicidal desires waver. In part, I read this book because I have attempted suicide before. At times I want to die, and at other times I do not. So, which desire should I act on? And how do you tell when someone is in their right mind? How do you identify a mental disease? I don't think Szasz has satisfactory answers to these questions.

[Kaelen Kinnaman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Short and sweet, this book packs a punch. If you're interested in suicide, I'd encourage you to read this. Doesn't go into the anthropological history of suicide, but rather focuses on it in the here and now. It's makes a compelling argument - that we as individuals should have the autonomy to commit suicide if we decide to. The abuse by psychiatric, medical, and legal institutions in violating ones right to die on their own terms is shocking. Even if you don't ultimately view the choice of someone to kill themselves as a civil liberty, this book makes a fascinating case in support of it, at the very least.

[Lim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started this book without knowing what it actually contains. I thought it will offer a balanced view in a narrative style - on the ethics and politics of suicide - yet the author pushes for the agenda for legalising suicide. It is mind-opening, allowing me to put myself in others' shoes. Perhaps some criticisms on coercive suicide prevention programmes in this book ought to be reflected by policy makers. The definition on the term "suicide" itself should be revisited as well, since it is often stigmatised.

[Timothy]

http://wirkman.wordpress.com/2012/10/...

[Logan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revelatory, as so many of Szasz's books are. A clearer or more courageous thinker is hard to come by.