ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors’ investigation has shown that in the final analysis the morbid suicide tendency of the present is caused by the irreligiosity of the masses. Suicide is then only a special phenomenon in the general decline and it is not committed by pure primitives, but by those who are corrupted. Suicide appears among many primitive peoples as a result of certain social, political, and national-economic views. The fact that the man of nature does not know the morbid suicide tendency, as compared with the civilized man, explains the periodic appearance of the morbid suicide tendency. Spain and Scotland both have a small suicide frequency despite differences in their education; both countries are very religious, overlooking for the present the quality of their respective religions. The unified world-view of the Middle Ages bestowed peace and happiness as long as it satisfied men; there was no suicide tendency.
