A dialogue between Durkheim and Foucault on the subject of suicide

Abstract

This article focuses on the not always explicit dialogue between Émile Durkheim and Michel Foucault on the issue of suicide. It seeks to summarize both authors’ approach to the subject by showing the conceptual network in which they acquire meaning. It also discusses the way in which Durkheim understands morality as a vital requirement for the happiness of the individual, as opposed to Foucault’s politicization of death as an act of resistance against particular forms of administering life.