Teaching Philosophy

Volume 32, Issue 1, March 2009

Harold Weiss
Pages 41-51

Teaching and Learning about Suicide

What are some of the most useful tools and techniques for teaching about suicide? How can this topic be used to deepen students’ understanding of Socrates and existentialism? Which concepts, skills, and exercises can facilitate student interest and insight? This essay will explore Socrates’ Apology as a means to teach analytical issues on suicide, Camus’s The Myth of Sisyphus to teach existentialist issues, and finally the cases of Kurt Cobain and Ludwig van Beethoven to teach the application of existentialist issues.