Citation

Lester D. Arch. Suicide Res. 2004; 8(1): 37-42.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey, Pomona 08240-0195, USA. lesterd@stockton.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, International Academy of Suicide Research, Publisher Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13811110490243769

PMID

16006393

Abstract

Examples of recent cases of martyrs are examined in order to identify the basic issues of whether martyrdom can be viewed as altruistic suicide. Several issues are identified: whom does the act have to benefit, does the act have to have its intended consequences or is the intent sufficient, does the martyr have to be thinking rationally, and whether execution by the state can be viewed as altruistic suicide.