Category Archives: Illness and Old Age
CARL GUSTAV JUNG
(1875-1961)
from Letters- July 10, 1946
- July 25, 1946
- Oct. 13, 1951
- Nov. 10, 1955
Carl Gustav Jung, born Karl Gustav II Jung, is regarded as the founder of analytical psychology. He was born in Kesswil, Switzerland, the son of a poor Protestant clergyman and philologist who taught him Latin at an early age. … Continue reading
CHARLOTTE PERKINS GILMAN
(1860-1935)
from The Living of Charlotte Perkins Gilman
Suicide Note, August 17, 1935
from The Right to Die
Charlotte Perkins Gilman—writer, philosopher, feminist, and social critic—contributed significantly to 20th-century political and feminist theory. Born in 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, she lived much of her childhood in poverty after her father left the family when she was seven … Continue reading
WILLIAM JAMES
(1842-1910)
from The Principles of Psychology
from Is Life Worth Living?
The son of the eccentric American philosopher Henry James, Sr., who was influenced by Swedenborgianism and Fourierism, and the brother of Henry James, the eminent novelist and literary critic, William James became a major figure in both philosophy and … Continue reading
ROBERT G. INGERSOLL
(1833-1899)
from Is Suicide a Sin? Col. Ingersoll’s Reply to his Critics
Robert Green Ingersoll, raised in New England as the son of a Congregational minister, became a noted agnostic lecturer. The family moved often because of his father’s unpopularity for his liberal views; when young Ingersoll was nine, his father … Continue reading
Filed under Americas, Illness and Old Age, Ingersoll, Robert, Rights, Selections, The Modern Era
FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE
(1820-1910)
from Note, Christmas Eve, 1850
from Nightingale’s draft novel
from Draft for Suggestions for Thought to Searchers After Religious Truth (1860)
from Notes on Nursing for the Labouring Classes (1861)
from Note to Benjamin Jowett (c. 1866)
Reflections on George MacDonald’s Novel, Robert Falconer (1868)
Truth and Feeling (1871 or later)
from Notes on Egypt: Mysticism and Eastern Religions
Florence Nightingale was born in Florence, Italy (hence her name), but raised by her wealthy family in England, educated primarily by her father. As a member of the upper class, she was expected to marry, to visit, and to … Continue reading
THOMAS JEFFERSON
(1743-1826)
from A Bill for Proportioning Crimes and Punishments in Cases Heretofore Capital
from Letter to Dr. Samuel Brown
Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, was a person of remarkably broad interests. He was a leading architect of his day, played the violin in chamber music concerts, was an avid planter, and served as president … Continue reading
EPICTETUS
(c. 55-c. 135)
from Discourses:
How from the Doctrine of Our Relationship to God We Are to Deduce Its Consequences
How We Should Bear Illness
Of Freedom
Born in Hierapolis, Phrygia (modern Turkey) to a slave woman, Epictetus was himself a slave during his childhood and adolescence. He was lame, according to Origen’s account, from injuries caused by his master Epaphroditus’s twisting his leg until he … Continue reading
Filed under Afterlife, Ancient History, Epictetus, Europe, Illness and Old Age, Selections, Stoicism
PLATO
(c. 424-c. 348 B.C.)
Apology: Socrates On Being Condemned to Death
Phaedo: The Death of Socrates
Republic: On Medicine
Laws: Recidivist Criminals and Penalties for Suicide
Plato was born in Athens into an aristocratic family during the Peloponnesian War, in the waning years of Greece’s golden age, when Athens was in decline after having been the cultural, political, and military center of Greece. According to … Continue reading