Category Archives: Americas
PETER Y. WINDT
(1938 – )
What Counts as Suicide? It’s Not So Easy to Say
Peter Y. Windt, formerly associate professor of philosophy at the University of Utah and former chairman of the department, has worked on many problems in bioethics, especially the ethics of (re)designing human nature; philosophical method and problems of informal … Continue reading
DANIEL CALLAHAN
(1930– )
from Reason, Self-determination, and Physician-Assisted Suicide
Educated at Yale, Georgetown, and Harvard, Daniel Callahan was a cofounder of The Hastings Center, the first institute for bioethics, in 1969, and served as its president from 1969–1996. Callahan’s interests in bioethics range from the beginning to the … Continue reading
PAUL TILLICH
(1886-1965)
from The Courage to Be
Paul Tillich was a German-American theologian whose work helped to revolutionize Protestant theology in light of a philosophical analysis of existence. Born in a small Prussian town, the son of an authoritarian Lutheran minister, Tillich attended universities in Berlin, … Continue reading
Filed under Americas, Europe, Existentialism, Protestantism, Selections, The Modern Era, Tillich, Paul
JOHN HAYNES HOLMES
(1879-1964)
from Is Suicide Justifiable?
John Haynes Holmes, an American clergyman and author, was one of the leaders of the Social Gospel movement in Protestantism. Holmes was born in Philadelphia to a family of meager circumstances; he planned to enter the family music publication … Continue reading
Filed under Americas, Holmes, John Haynes, Martyrdom, Selections, The Modern Era
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
OLAUDAH EQUIANO
(c. 1745-1797)
from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself
Olaudah Equiano, an Igbo, describes himself as born to a relatively prosperous, slave-owning family in the region east of the city of Onitsha, Nigeria, where ownership of slaves and slave-raiding were local practice at the time. At the age … Continue reading
Filed under Africa, Americas, Equiano, Olaudah, Selections, Slavery, The Early Modern Period
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
COTTON MATHER
(1663-1728)
from Memorable Providences Relating to Witchcrafts and Possessions
Cotton Mather, son of Increase Mather [q.v.], was born in Boston, graduated from Harvard in 1678, and was ordained in 1685 in the Congregational Church. He assisted and then succeeded his father in the Second Church pastorate, Boston. Although … Continue reading
Filed under Americas, Christianity, Devil, Mather, Cotton, Protestantism, Selections, The Early Modern Period