Suicide and Potential: A Moral Debate

[Philocrat]

I was just wondering, If a person who has great potential, and great ability to change the world for the better decides to commit suicide, is it wrong? Isn't it his decision to make? Should he have to kill himself with the guilt of 'what ifs' on his mind, or should he be able to kill himself not caring about the potential and ability's he had?

Does he have to feel guilty about leaving his family behind and causing grief and turmoil? Isnt it fair for him to end his own pain? Should he leave a suicide note telling his family he did this for himself, selfishly? or will that just create more grief, I don't know, was just a question I had on my mind.

If you are a 'UNIVERSALIST', yes, Suicide is wrong. You will find this ruling in Kant's 'CATEGORICAL IMPARATIVES', a fixed point on which his moral philosophy rests. In Kant's universalism, suicide is wrong because, according to him, when you do commit one, you rob the rest of the society of 'VALUE'! Another point: Lutwig Wittgenstein spent his entire life contemplating suicide...but in the end (and very cleverly) he never did.

For me suicide is wrong for one fundamental reason:

In our unshakeable resolve and drive to survive, everyone counts, and since no one knows who holds the KEY to that survival, every necessary step or measure taken to preserve life must be ABSOLUTELY adhered to. In this very sense, I could very well pass as a universalist.

PROBLEM: Universalism, though originally necessary and wholly desirable, is incompatible with UTILITARIANISM. Under utilitarian code of conduct, one or a few may commit suicide to save many in a moral dilemma situation. In this very sense, you could quite rightly say or postulate that Universalism is naturally ill-equipped to deal with moral dilemmas that we all encounter in every moment of our lives. However, my own belief is that, even if this were really the case, it is ephemrally so, both in scope and in substance...for in the end universalism will prevail.

 

[Kerrie]

Why? Do we assume emotional pain to have little importance? I don't believe that is the attitude of the majority of posters - this ideal leads logically to the conclusion that rape should be punished according only to the physical injurys sustained.

When someone commits suicide, it is for one of two reasons:
1) death was not intentional; it was a cry for help
2) the suicidal decides that death would be better than life

Dismissing emotional pain as trivial or transient is therefore a mistake; the person in best place to judge considers it overwhelming, and who ever chooses such a final solution to a transient problem? Suicidals do not consider their problems transient. Please don't call these people or their decision 'stupid'. If it can be the right decision for one in physical pain, maybe it is sometimes the right decision for those in psychological pain.

As for those of you who don't consider a person's life their own property, to do with as they wish, I challenge you to justify this perspective without falling back on religious dogma or a functionalist societal view that disregards the wellbeing of human beings.

To conclude: Suicide is always an extreme choice, but not necessarily a 'stupid' one and certainly not morally 'wrong'

thank you for a fresh and more positive perspective...it made me rethink my stand on it...i still believe we are ultimately responsible for our emotional direction in life, but i have to agree after reading your words that suicide is an extreme call for help, not a stupid choice. your compassion for those suffering is to be commended...

 

[Dagenais]

IMHO, except in the case of terminal illness and pain, suicide is a sad form of surrender. "I have so much to offer, but the world won't let me show it. So, i will quit and that will teach you." A grotesque expression of anger; turned inward.

Suicide isn't "surrendering" or taking the easy way out. I would hardly call killing yourself easy. In fact, in my opinion, it takes a lot of courage to commit suicide. Whether it be shooting yourself or jumping to your death.

I've seen someone attempt to commit suicide. He jumped off a pretty high cliff onto railroad tracks. I was sitting in my car enjoying the beautiful view, next to some other people in their cars when this man comes up...and just jumps. He was still alive though, when the ambulance got there.

If these people have the guts to jump to their death or to shoot themselves, they must have the courage to continue life.

 

[mikeee]

Isn't it a natural instinct for us to live? I think that suicide in most cases wrong and is part of some mental problem (other then depression) excluding people suffering of disease and such that are in never ending agony and are destined to die anyways.