Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in
Book cover

Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science pp 1–4Cite as

Reproduction, Suicide, Euthanasia

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:

Synonyms

Death; Death by suicide; Medical definitions of death; Reproduction; Survival and reproduction

Definition

Reproduction, suicide, and euthanasia are existence-related moral phenomena with the mutual component of decision-making regarding life and death.

Introduction

Natural selection will never produce in a being any structure more injurious than beneficial to that being, for natural selection acts solely by and for the good of each. No organ will be formed for the purpose of causing pain or for doing an injury to its possessor.

Charles Darwin

Does life stink? There is, obviously, no simple answer to this philosophical question. David Benatar (1997, 2006) argues that life stinks, and even if it does not stink so badly, there is a good chance that it will begin to do so. Existence may be painful and frustrating; however, nonexistence cannot be painful or frustrating. Back to the first fundamental question of this entry, nonexistence is completely “odor-free.” Benatar (2016)...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

References

  • Aubin, H. J., Berlin, I., & Kornreich, C. (2013). The evolutionary puzzle of suicide. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10, 6873–6886.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Benatar, D. (1997). Why it is better never to come into existence. American Philosophical Quarterly, 34, 345–355.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benatar, D. (2006). Better never to have been: The harm of coming into existence. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Benatar, D. (2016). Life is not good. In T. K. Shackelford & R. D. Hansen (Eds.), The evolution of morality (pp. 137–140). Switzerland: Springer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Burnette, J. L., Davis, D. E., Green, J. D., Worthington, E. L., & Bradfield, E. (2009). Insecure attachment and depressive symptoms: The mediating role of rumination, empathy, and forgiveness. Personality and Individual Differences, 46, 276–280.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buss, D. M. (2008). Evolutionary psychology: The new science of the mind (3rd ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

    Google Scholar 

  • de Catanzaro, D. (1991). Evolutionary limits to self preservation. Ethology and Sociobiology, 12, 13–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Catanzaro, D. (1995). Reproductive status, family interactions, and suicidal ideation: Surveys of the general public and high-risk group. Ethology and Sociobiology, 16, 385–394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fadai, F. (2009). Sadegh Hedayat from the “Descriptive Psychiatry” view-point. Iranian Journal of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, 3, 19–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Liddle, J. R., Bush, L. S., & Shackelford, T. K. (2011). An introduction to evolutionary psychology and its application to suicide terrorism. Behavioral Sciences of Terrorism and Political Aggression, 3, 176–197.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weinberg, R. (2012). Is having children always wrong? South African Journal of Philosophy, 31, 26–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

    Mohammad Atari

Authors
  1. Mohammad Atari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mohammad Atari .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Oakland Univ Dept of Psycholgy, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana Weekes-Shackelford

  2. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Todd K. Shackelford

  3. Rochester, Michigan, USA

    Viviana A. Weekes-Shackelford

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychology, Oakland University, Rochester, MI, USA

    Lisa L M Welling

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing AG

About this entry

Cite this entry

Atari, M. (2016). Reproduction, Suicide, Euthanasia. In: Weekes-Shackelford, V., Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_464-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_464-1

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-16999-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation