suicide
Alan Watts mentions suicide in several places, usually as part of a broader discussion about seriousness, selfhood, and the fear of life. He says that when people become “heavily serious” about sex or religion, it can lead to “crimes of passion, suicides, bitter divorces, inquisitions, and holy wars,” which he calls “signs of imbecility rather than sincere conviction” 1.
He also reflects on suicide more directly in relation to philosophy, saying that if life were not intensely interesting to him, he would “probably commit suicide,” echoing Camus’s view that “the only serious philosophical problem is whether or not to commit suicide” 3. But he immediately qualifies that by saying “to be or not to be is not the question, since the two states manifest each other” 3.
Watts also warns against mistaking mystical or psychological states for a kind of self-destruction, noting that the “uninstructed adventurer” with psychedelics, Zen, or yoga can fall into “inflation,” a messianic megalomania rooted in misunderstanding union with God 4. Elsewhere, he contrasts self-hatred with true release, saying it is not that one “throws yourself away” like someone who “jumps off the golden gate bridge” 11.
In another talk, he discusses the idea that a person who feels free to commit suicide may not actually need to do so, because the sense of choice itself can reduce anxiety 12. And in the context of war and social violence, he criticizes “national suicide” and “world suicide with honour” as an insane kind of collective destruction 15.
If you want, I can also pull together every recorded passage in this set where Watts refers to suicide or self-destruction.
Start your own conversation
Ask anything about this collection
Vote