SynTalk

Is life precious? Whose property is it? Is the final act of suicide narratable? Can you tolerate frustration? Rage? Shame? Could one commit suicide without any conscious reason? Is suicide alluring? Do we instinctively long to unite with some deep inanimate part of nature? Are we ‘beings towards death’? Does a suicide bring together both the radical uniqueness and the similarity of death? Why do men commit suicide more than women? Do you identify with your mother? Is suicide a cowardly act? How coherent is the Self? Can the killer and the killed be one? Is suicide a breakdown of the capacity to mentalize or symbolize? When is (say) fasting unto death ‘permitted’? What is the underlying promise? How does the changing body-soul relationship influence our attitude towards suicide? Do you live in a culture of honour? Is attempting suicide a crime (or a sin)? Do we have a right to be 'alive'? When (must) might we have the right to die? Why not just 'run away'? Will cyborgs commit suicide in the (perfect) future? Will there be ‘demand’ for suicide as long as there is humanity? SynTalk thinks about these & more questions using concepts from religion studies & philosophy (Prof. Purushottama Bilimoria, Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley, California), cultural studies (Prof. Manas Ray, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta (CSSSC), Kolkata), & psychoanalysis (Dr. Madhu Sarin, New Delhi). Listen in....