Name: CARLOS VINICIUS ROVETTA SANTOS
Publication date: 23/02/2026
Examining board:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| FLÁVIO FONTENELLE LOQUE | Examinador Externo |
| JAIMIR CONTE | Examinador Externo |
| LUCIO VAZ DE OLIVEIRA | Presidente |
Summary: The theme of suicide is spread in an unsystematic way throughout the Essays. Montaigne's various considerations on the subject are sometimes contradictory and obscure, and it is not clear, at first glance, how the different parts are connected. In truth, Montaigne both admires and is reluctant about suicide, and while he advocates arguments in favor of the personal choice to kill oneself, he simultaneously affirms that one's life does not belong merely to oneself, but also to God and society. By considering the book as a cohesive whole, this dissertation aims to systematize these different aspects of suicide in the Essays and to capture any possible meaning that might subsist within them. To that end, firstly, all opportunities that touch on the topic in a relevant way are identified and, secondly, these opportunities are analyzed in order to clarify the meaning of each passage. In comparing the conclusions we have reached regarding the different aspects of this type of voluntary death, I intend to show that Montaigne is opposed to suicide from a prudential point of view, but that it is not possible to draw any definitive conclusions about his moral and political position on the subject.
