Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation

Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation PDF Author: Margo Kitts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190656484
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Suicide in the forms of martyrdom, self-sacrifice, or self-immolation is perennially controversial: Should it rightly be termed suicide? Does religion sanction it? Should it be celebrated or anathematized? At least some idealization of such self-chosen deaths is found in every religious tradition treated in this volume, from ascetic heroes who conquer their passions to save others by dying, to righteous warriors who suffer and die valiantly while challenging the status quo. At the same time, there are persistent disputes about the concepts used to justify these deaths, such as altruism, heroism, and religion itself. In this volume, renowned scholars bring their literary and historical expertise to bear on the contested issue of religiously sanctioned suicide. Three examine contemporary movements with disputed classical roots, while eleven look at classical religious literatures which variously laud and disparage figures who invite self-harm to the point of death. Overall, the volume offers an important scholarly corrective to the axiom that religious traditions simply and always embrace life at any cost.

Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation

Martyrdom, Self-sacrifice, and Self-immolation PDF Author: Margo Kitts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190656484
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 361

Get Book Here

Book Description
Suicide in the forms of martyrdom, self-sacrifice, or self-immolation is perennially controversial: Should it rightly be termed suicide? Does religion sanction it? Should it be celebrated or anathematized? At least some idealization of such self-chosen deaths is found in every religious tradition treated in this volume, from ascetic heroes who conquer their passions to save others by dying, to righteous warriors who suffer and die valiantly while challenging the status quo. At the same time, there are persistent disputes about the concepts used to justify these deaths, such as altruism, heroism, and religion itself. In this volume, renowned scholars bring their literary and historical expertise to bear on the contested issue of religiously sanctioned suicide. Three examine contemporary movements with disputed classical roots, while eleven look at classical religious literatures which variously laud and disparage figures who invite self-harm to the point of death. Overall, the volume offers an important scholarly corrective to the axiom that religious traditions simply and always embrace life at any cost.

The Ethics of Suicide

The Ethics of Suicide PDF Author: M. Pabst Battin
Publisher:
ISBN: 0195135997
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 753

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Book Description
Is suicide wrong, profoundly morally wrong? Almost always wrong, but excusable in a few cases? Sometimes morally permissible? Imprudent, but not wrong? Is it sick, a matter of mental illness? Is it a private matter or a largely social one? Could it sometimes be right, or a "noble duty," or even a fundamental human right? Whether it is called "suicide" or not, what role may a person play in the end of his or her own life? This collection of primary sources--the principal texts of ethical interest from major writers in western and nonwestern cultures, from the principal religious traditions, and from oral cultures where observer reports of traditional practices are available, spanning Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Oceania, the Arctic, and North and South America--facilitates exploration of many controversial practical issues: physician-assisted suicide or aid-in-dying; suicide in social or political protest; self-sacrifice and martyrdom; suicides of honor or loyalty; religious and ritual practices that lead to death, including sati or widow-burning, hara-kiri, and sallekhana, or fasting unto death; and suicide bombings, kamikaze missions, jihad, and other tactical and military suicides. This collection has no interest in taking sides in controversies about the ethics of suicide; rather, rather, it serves to expand the character of these debates, by showing them to be multi-dimensional, a complex and vital part of human ethical thought.

Making Sense of Suicide Missions

Making Sense of Suicide Missions PDF Author: Diego Gambetta
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199297975
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 430

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Book Description
"Suicide attacks are a defining act of political violence and an extraordinary social phenomenon. This book investigates the organizers of suicide missions and the perpetrators alike"--Provided by publisher.

Tibet on Fire

Tibet on Fire PDF Author: Tsering Woeser
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 178478155X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 85

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Book Description
Why Tibetan monks are setting themselves on fire Since the 2008 uprising, nearly 150 Tibetan monks have set fire to themselves in protest at the Chinese occupation of their country. Most have died from their injuries. Author Tsering Woeser is a prominent voice of the Tibetan movement, and one of the few Tibetan authors to write in Chinese. Her stirring acts of resistance have led to her house arrest, where she remains under close surveillance to this day. Tibet On Fire is her account of the oppression Tibetans face and the ideals driving those who resist, both the self-immolators and other Tibetans like herself. With a cover image designed by Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, Tibet on Fire is angry and cogent: a clarion call for the world to take action.

Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation

Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation PDF Author: Margo Kitts
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190656514
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 361

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Book Description
Suicide in the forms of martyrdom, self-sacrifice, or self-immolation is perennially controversial: Should it rightly be termed suicide? Does religion sanction it? Should it be celebrated or anathematized? At least some idealization of such self-chosen deaths is found in every religious tradition treated in this volume, from ascetic heroes who conquer their passions to save others by dying, to righteous warriors who suffer and die valiantly while challenging the status quo. At the same time, there are persistent disputes about the concepts used to justify these deaths, such as altruism, heroism, and religion itself. In this volume, renowned scholars bring their literary and historical expertise to bear on the contested issue of religiously sanctioned suicide. Three examine contemporary movements with disputed classical roots, while eleven look at classical religious literatures which variously laud and disparage figures who invite self-harm to the point of death. Overall, the volume offers an important scholarly corrective to the axiom that religious traditions simply and always embrace life at any cost.

Essays on Suicide and Self-Immolation

Essays on Suicide and Self-Immolation PDF Author: A. Shah
Publisher: Primus Books
ISBN: 9789386552907
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
This book is a collection of papers on suicide and self-immolation, reprinted from the almost forgotten Journal of the Anthropological Society of Bombay, published in 1886-1936. The book carries a Foreword by Professor Ashis Nandy on death and self in culture. Part I includes nineteen papers, analysing statistics of suicides committed in Bombay (now Mumbai) from 1886 to 1907, classified by religion, gender, age, month, date, cause and means of suicide, etc. The data is presented in a number of tables, often with remarks on individual cases. Launched by Edward Rehatsek, a Hungarian scholar who had made Bombay his home, the papers were continued after his death by the Parsee scholar, Bomanjee Byramjee Patell. Part II includes seven general essays: one is on suicide and old age in a comparative perspective, and another on suicide in ancient India. The question of self-immolation of Hindu widows, commonly referred to as sati, is discussed in three of the essays. Of special interest is the essay on the Sati of Ramabai, widow of Madhavrao Peshwa. Two essays deal with the issue of selfimmolation of persons in religious contexts.

Revisiting Suicide

Revisiting Suicide PDF Author: Kanchan Bharati
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1000260976
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
This book provides a socio-psychological enquiry of the phenomenon of suicide in the Indian context. It addresses the rising trend of suicides across the world and through case studies explores its primary reasons, the after-effects on survivors and families and measures to prevent them. The volume focuses on deciphering the social and psychological meanings associated with suicide. Through an examination of psycho-social autopsies of numerous cases, it highlights the patterns and trends which emerge around mental well-being, suicide and bereavement. It examines the primary roadblocks for robust suicide prevention measures and provides great insights into behavioral and personality categories and their relationship with suicide. Offering theoretical and empirical perspectives on the issue of suicide and self-harm, this book will be of interest to students, researchers, and faculty of behavioral sciences, psychology, social anthropology, demography, criminology, social work and sociology. It will also be an essential read for psychologists and counselors, policy makers, NGOs, CSOs, legal experts and media personnel working in the area of suicide prevention and research.

A Cruel Theatre of Self-Immolations

A Cruel Theatre of Self-Immolations PDF Author: Grzegorz Ziółkowski
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429602227
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
A Cruel Theatre of Self-Immolations investigates contemporary protest self-burnings and their echoes across culture. The book provides a conceptual frame for the phenomenon and an annotated, comprehensive timeline of suicide protests by fire, supplemented with notes on artworks inspired by or devoted to individual cases. The core of the publication consists of six case studies of these ultimate acts, augmented with analyses and interpretations hailing from the visual arts, film, theatre, architecture, and literature. By examining responses to these events within an interdisciplinary frame, Ziółkowski highlights the phenomenon’s global reach and creates a broad, yet in-depth, exploration of the problems that most often prompt these self-burnings, such as religious discrimination and harassment, war and its horrors, the brutality and indoctrination of authoritarian regimes and the apathy they produce, as well as the exploitation of the so-called "subalterns" and their exclusion from mainstream economic systems. Of interest to scholars from an array of fields, from theatre and performance, to visual art, to religion and politics, A Cruel Theatre of Self-Immolations offers a unique look at voluntary, demonstrative, and radical performances of shock and subversion.

Suicide by Self-Immolation

Suicide by Self-Immolation PDF Author: César A. Alfonso
Publisher: Springer Nature
ISBN: 303062613X
Category : Medical
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
This book addresses biopsychosocial and transcultural determinants of suicide by self-immolation, populations at risk throughout the world and prevention strategies specifically designed for young women in fragile environments. Self-immolation, the act of burning oneself as a means of suicide, is rare in high-income countries, and is usually a symbolic display of political protest among men that generally receives international media coverage. In contrast, in low- and-middle-income countries it is highly prevalent, primarily affects women, and may be one of the most common suicide methods in regions of Central and South Asia and parts of Africa. Psychiatric conditions, like adjustment disorders, traumatic stress disorders, and major depression, and family dynamics that include intimate partner violence, forced marriages, the threat of honor killings, and interpersonal family conflicts in a cultural context of war-related life events, poverty, forced migration and ethnic conflicts are important contributing factors. Written by over 40 academic psychiatrists from all continents, sociologists, and historians, the book covers topics such as region-specific cultural and historical factors associated with suicide; the role of religion and belief systems; marginalization, oppression, retraumatization and suicide risk; countertransference aspects of working in burn centers; responsible reporting and the media; and suicide prevention strategies to protect those at risk.

The Buddhist Dead

The Buddhist Dead PDF Author: Bryan J. Cuevas
Publisher: University of Hawaii Press
ISBN: 0824830318
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 506

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Book Description
In its teachings, practices and institutions, Buddhism in its varied Asian forms is centrally concerned with death and the dead. This title offers a comparative investigation of this topic across the major Buddhist cultures of India, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Tibet and Burma.