Daniel Kahneman, ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ author, died of assisted suicide
ByHT News Desk
Mar 15, 2025 10:05 AM IST
Daniel Kahneman, author of the popular book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, had not told anyone about his decision apart from close friends and family.
Nobel Prize winner Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman died on March 27, 2024, at an assisted suicide facility in Switzerland, revealed columnist Jason Zweig in an essay for The Wall Street Journal.
Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman died at an assisted suicide facility(AP)
Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman died at an assisted suicide facility(AP)
The psychologist and author of the popular book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”, had not told anyone about his decision apart from close friends and family.
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On March 26, 2024, Daniel Kahneman sent an email to his family, bidding them goodbye as he left for Switzerland to end his life.
Zweig says in the essay, “I think Danny wanted, above all, to avoid a long decline, to go out on his terms, to own his own death.”
According to Kahneman's friends and family, as cited by The Wall Street Journal, the author did not endorse assisted suicide for others or advocate for it.
Also Read:Daniel Kahneman dies at 90: 10 things to know about the Nobel Prize winner
One of Kahneman's friends, Phillip Tetlock, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, said, “Right to the end, he was a lot smarter than most of us. But I am no mind reader. My best guess is he felt he was falling apart, cognitively and physically. And he really wanted to enjoy life and expected life to become decreasingly enjoyable. I suspect he worked out a hedonic calculus of when the burdens of life would begin to outweigh the benefits—and he probably foresaw a very steep decline in his early 90s.”
Also Read:Daniel Kahneman - Thinking Fast and Slow Writer dies - 10 life-changing quotes he gave the world
He added, “I have never seen a better-planned death than the one Danny designed.”
In his last email, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal, Kahneman said, “I have believed since I was a teenager that the miseries and indignities of the last years of life are superfluous, and I am acting on that belief. I am still active, enjoying many things in life (except the daily news) and will die a happy man. But my kidneys are on their last legs, the frequency of mental lapses is increasing, and I am ninety years old. It is time to go.”
Discussing suicides can be triggering for some. However, suicides are preventable. A few major suicide prevention helpline numbers in India are 011-23389090 from Sumaitri (Delhi-based) and 044-24640050 from Sneha Foundation (Chennai-based).
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