curiosity..got the cat defriended
I was reading an essay I wrote ages ago, about rational suicide as a right, & started wondering about other people's thoughts on it. My high school English teacher's input was purely toward the essay's technical aspects, so basically, I had no opinion other than my own about the subject.
So, I'm curious..
Life is one of the things that we treasure the most. Any action that is against life
or endangers life is generally considered unacceptable or irrational. Suicide, the act of
killing one’s self, is one such action that is widely denounced and met with disapproval.
However, though it is a controversial subject, it is a right under appropriate circumstances. Rational suicide is an individual right and should be a respected decision.
Common factors that lead to suicide are depression and mental illness, both of
which spell distress and point to incompetence in judgment. This is what makes suicide
unacceptable some. Since it is often presumed that people take their lives because they suffer from these conditions, it is also argued that they are not in a healthy state of mind. While that is a valid argument, there are other reasons for suicide, including some that are overlooked. Several people, who are healthy and fully competent, may realize that they want to end their lives because they see no further purpose in continuing to live. They may feel that their lives have already been fulfilled; that they have lived them to the fullest and-after contemplating the pros and cons of continuing life-that the future will bring more pain than joy.
Although this type of decision is backed by reason and logic, it can still be
thought of as absurd or even taboo. But what exactly makes suicide taboo? There are a
number of factors that contribute to this. Religion, moral beliefs, and philosophy all
disagree with the notion of suicide. Christianity, for one, teaches the doctrine that since God gave us our lives, he is the only one with authority to take them away. This cannot be the standard that will dictate whether suicide is right or wrong because it assumes everyone under one category. Not everybody is a Christian and not everybody believes in God. Furthermore, your body belongs to you alone. You can dispose of it as you so please.
Another concept that makes suicide appear so notorious is ‘the sanctity of life.’
This idea regards life as the most precious thing; as a sacred gift. Thus, ending it would be a fault. In turn, people are obligated to stop others from killing themselves because of this belief. Yet, can a life riddled with horrors or lived miserably still be qualified as ‘sacred’?
A major reason for society’s dedication to the prevention of suicide is that it
treats life as a ‘social duty.’ It is seen as a service if a person is stopped from committing suicide, but it can just as easily be an injustice. If a sane person is prevented from ending his life, that person is essentially being deprived of controlling his life’s duration. This impedes free will, a concept that is more accepted and far more universal than any of the arguments against suicide. Besides impeding free will, suicide prevention can also prolong pain and suffering. Terminally ill and physically disabled patients who want to die and need assistance to do so, for instance, should not be denied the aid. If their needs are not met, then they will be forced to live against their will, and that hardly seems fair.
Suicide, to be accurate, is self-imposed death--aided or not. It is an independent decision and should therefore be decided over individually, not through a generalization of society’s beliefs. Morals, which are really opinions, should not obstruct reason. The idea of suicide should also be assessed more justly. Positive things do result from it. The foolish principle that ‘life is always worth living, whatever the circumstances’ cannot be upheld over free will and the necessity to end unnecessary suffering.
*****
That's the leaner version of the essay.
What's yours?
This especially struck a chord with me now because I realized that in the future, I'll actually have lives in my hands. A scary thought..
So, I'm curious..
Life is one of the things that we treasure the most. Any action that is against life
or endangers life is generally considered unacceptable or irrational. Suicide, the act of
killing one’s self, is one such action that is widely denounced and met with disapproval.
However, though it is a controversial subject, it is a right under appropriate circumstances. Rational suicide is an individual right and should be a respected decision.
Common factors that lead to suicide are depression and mental illness, both of
which spell distress and point to incompetence in judgment. This is what makes suicide
unacceptable some. Since it is often presumed that people take their lives because they suffer from these conditions, it is also argued that they are not in a healthy state of mind. While that is a valid argument, there are other reasons for suicide, including some that are overlooked. Several people, who are healthy and fully competent, may realize that they want to end their lives because they see no further purpose in continuing to live. They may feel that their lives have already been fulfilled; that they have lived them to the fullest and-after contemplating the pros and cons of continuing life-that the future will bring more pain than joy.
Although this type of decision is backed by reason and logic, it can still be
thought of as absurd or even taboo. But what exactly makes suicide taboo? There are a
number of factors that contribute to this. Religion, moral beliefs, and philosophy all
disagree with the notion of suicide. Christianity, for one, teaches the doctrine that since God gave us our lives, he is the only one with authority to take them away. This cannot be the standard that will dictate whether suicide is right or wrong because it assumes everyone under one category. Not everybody is a Christian and not everybody believes in God. Furthermore, your body belongs to you alone. You can dispose of it as you so please.
Another concept that makes suicide appear so notorious is ‘the sanctity of life.’
This idea regards life as the most precious thing; as a sacred gift. Thus, ending it would be a fault. In turn, people are obligated to stop others from killing themselves because of this belief. Yet, can a life riddled with horrors or lived miserably still be qualified as ‘sacred’?
A major reason for society’s dedication to the prevention of suicide is that it
treats life as a ‘social duty.’ It is seen as a service if a person is stopped from committing suicide, but it can just as easily be an injustice. If a sane person is prevented from ending his life, that person is essentially being deprived of controlling his life’s duration. This impedes free will, a concept that is more accepted and far more universal than any of the arguments against suicide. Besides impeding free will, suicide prevention can also prolong pain and suffering. Terminally ill and physically disabled patients who want to die and need assistance to do so, for instance, should not be denied the aid. If their needs are not met, then they will be forced to live against their will, and that hardly seems fair.
Suicide, to be accurate, is self-imposed death--aided or not. It is an independent decision and should therefore be decided over individually, not through a generalization of society’s beliefs. Morals, which are really opinions, should not obstruct reason. The idea of suicide should also be assessed more justly. Positive things do result from it. The foolish principle that ‘life is always worth living, whatever the circumstances’ cannot be upheld over free will and the necessity to end unnecessary suffering.
*****
That's the leaner version of the essay.
What's yours?
This especially struck a chord with me now because I realized that in the future, I'll actually have lives in my hands. A scary thought..