然而在西元452年的阿爾勒會議(英语:Council of Arles (452))中出現了「若奴隸自殺不能降罪於主子」的聲明。[5]在古希臘也有著一些引領了天主教徒對於自殺的仇視的思想家,如畢達哥拉斯及亞里斯多德。畢達哥拉斯認為世上能供人使用的靈魂是有限的,如果有人突然的死亡將會導致靈魂的分配失衡。而亞里斯多德則譴責自殺對於社會是有損的,社會將會損失該自殺者所能帶來的勞動力等資源。
羅馬人非常欣賞「愛國」的自殺行為;若只是單純的戰死反而會被視作一種不榮譽的行為。而對於斯多葛主義者(一個源自希臘的哲學流派)來說,死亡就象徵著死者脫離了令人痛苦的現實世界,回歸自由一樣。例如小加圖的自殺:在輸掉塔普蘇斯戰役(英语:Battle of Thapsus)且格奈烏斯·龐培也死了之後,堅決不投降於尤利烏斯·凱撒而毅然決然地自殺,在羅馬人眼中便是一個十分「光榮的死亡」,即一個具有充分理由又不違背良心,不為一己之利的死亡。而塞內卡的死亡也被視作是一個「光榮的死亡」,儘管他是因為捲入了批索陰謀(英语:pisonian conspiracy)而被尼祿皇帝逼迫自殺的。然而馬克·安東尼的自殺卻不被認為是一場「光榮的死亡」,因為人們認為他是為了愛人而自殺的,意即是為了一己之利的。可見在羅馬人眼裡光榮的自殺和自私自利的自殺之間有著非常明顯的界線。
緊接著在中世紀,天主教會開始絕罰那些自殺未遂者,而自殺死亡者的遺體則會被丟在「受淨化後的」墳場外面。[6]在此期間教會裡對於那些殉教者的行為算不算是自殺也展開了漫長的討論,例如那些在哥德華殉教(英语:Martyrs of Córdoba)中的死者算不算是罪人。1670年,路易十四對於自殺死亡者的處置方法發布了更嚴重的處罰條例:將死者遺體面部向著地面拖行著遊街示眾,最後把遺體掛在垃圾場上或著直接丟到垃圾堆裡,並且還要將死者的財產全數充公。[7][8]
^Danielle Gourevitch, "Suicide among the sick in classical antiquity." Bulletin of the History of Medicine 43.6 (1969): 501-518.
^John D. Papadimitriou, et al. "Euthanasia and suicide in antiquity: viewpoint of the dramatists and philosophers." Journal of the Royal Society of medicine 100.1 (2007): 25-28. online (页面存档备份,存于互联网档案馆)
^Anton J. L. Van Hooff, From autothanasia to suicide: Self-killing in classical antiquity (Routledge, 2002).
^Hefele, Charles Joseph. A History of the Councils of the Church Clark, Edinburg, 1883, Canon 53.
^Gwen Seabourne, and Alice Seabourne, "The law on suicide in medieval England." Journal of Legal History 21.1 (2000): 21-48.
Bähr, Andreas. "Between “Self-Murder” and “Suicide”: The Modern Etymology of Self-Killing." Journal of Social History 46.3 (2013): 620-632. Argues Suicide” is a modern concept--emerging in English in 1650s and in French and Spanish in late 18th century.
Crocker, Lester G. "The discussion of suicide in the eighteenth century." Journal of the History of Ideas (1952): 13#1 pp 47–72. online
Healy, Róisín. "Suicide in early modern and modern Europe." Historical Journal 49.3 (2006): 903–919. online (the link is legit)
Kästner, Alexander. "Saving Self-Murderers: Lifesaving Programs and the Treatment of Suicides in Late Eighteenth-Century Europe." Journal of Social History 46.3 (2013): 633–650.
Laragy, Georgina. "'A Peculiar Species of Felony': Suicide, Medicine, and the Law in Victorian Britain and Ireland." Journal of Social History 46.3 (2013): 732–743.
Merrick, Jeffrey. "Rescued from the river: attempted suicide in late eighteenth-century Paris." Histoire sociale/Social history 49.98 (2016): 27–47. online
Rosen, George. "History in the study of suicide." Psychological Medicine 1.4 (1971): 267–285.
Vandekerckhove, Lieven. "The Decriminalization of Suicide in 18th Century Europe." European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice vol. 6, no. 3, 1998, pp. 252–266. HeinOnline, online.
Watt, Jeffrey Rodgers. From Sin to Insanity: Suicide in Early Modern Europe (2004)