Abstract
This paper considers the problem of life and death in Spinoza’s thought. It seems to me that a topic of suicide helps to elucidate this problem. Spinoza states that suicide is caused by external causes. But based on our common sense, it is the outcome of an action that is decided by a person’s will. Unlike accidents, the person who committed it must have known its result beforehand. In other words, suicide is the result of human free will, and caused by internal causes. Then how should we understand this difference between Spinoza’s insistence and the common opinion? To answer this question, at first, we consider the self in Spinoza’s metaphysics. Secondly, the way in which Spinoza explains an act performed by the self is discussed. Finally, we inquire how Spinoza understands “the meaning of living.” These examinations will shed light on one of the most important features in Spinoza’s thinking. That is to say, the conversion of self-consciousness means that “the self who searched for any meaning of his/her own life” changes itself and realizes what God who is the life itself wishes for the self.” This is a conclusion in this paper, however, which seems to me insufficient for a person who actually desires death. Further careful argument will be required for a solution of this problem.
