Suicide. Why not?

[Sir ReGiN]

I was just wondering, why do we not allow people to commit suicide?
Or rather, why do we try to stop them?
I agree that if someone has just had a bad day or broke up with their boy/girl friend or something, they shouldn't kill themself, but if someone don't think their life will get any better and really wants to die, shouldn't we respect that? I mean, it's their body, their life.
Why is it so taboo to take ones life?

Why, do you think? And what is your opinion?

well originally it was considered a sin. if people commit suicide how could the Church lure these people into their fold? LOL!!! (cynical hat on there)

I consider it a bad idea simply because of all the grief that would be left behind. Relatives, friends, etc...

I once considered it myself but a good friend brought me round.

I would only personally say it is really acceptable if you're medically incapable fo having a life to be honest (such cases have happened too)

[Neb]

Well, personally I believe that it depends. In some cases like people having lost all of their limbs it'd be more merciful to just kill them. Selfish of us to keep them around if their life could never be improved.

If it's just a bad period, having lost a job, a g/f, had a divorce, stuff like that, we should prevent people from killing themselves. Things can still get better.

[Jerome]

"Thus we hear that suicide is the most cowardly of acts, that only a madman would commit it, and similar insipidites; or the senseless assertion that suicide is 'wrong', it is obvious that there is nothing in the world a man has more incontestable right to than his own life and person"

--Schopenhauer.

He summed it up entirely for me.

[Grimslade]

I too hate the enourmous pain and stress that is inflicted upon the friends and family of a person who commits suicide. They might start asking, "why did s/he do it? Did it have something to do with me? Could I have done something?"

But then again, I kind of understand why some people are driven to do this. Life isn't a walk in the park anymore, and it seems to be getting harder and more demanding as time goes by. Some people believe that they just can't handle it.

[K T Ong]

I think it all comes down to your view of the nature and purpose of human existence. Which is a very large issue I'm not prepared to go into at the moment.

Suffice it to say for now that, if one's view is that 'We are but dust' -- nothing more -- then any value we care to assign to human life is effectively negated and there can be no special reason not to terminate our lives as and when we see fit. I don't buy the view that 'We are but dust', BTW.

[Beaumanoir]

Originally posted by Lord Shield: I would only personally say it is really acceptable if you're medically incapable fo having a life to be honest (such cases have happened too)

I Agree. Any Other Time, Things Will Pick Up. or They Should.

[Melusine]

That's absolutely not true. A severe clinical depression, while treatable, is not something that will 'just pick up'.
However, in most cases of teen angst it WOULD be a waste... almost everybody at some point in their life wonders what's the use of it all.
So mostly I agree with Neb: it should be allowed, but we do have an obligation to help people and prevent them from killing themselves, as in most cases, things WILL get better.
Still, in the end I think it's a person's right to decide about their own life and death (not going into dodgy territory like criminals on hunger strike etc here, just generally speaking)
So we should do all we can to prevent it, yet respect a person's wishes if there's really nothing left for them to care about in the world.

[Sir ReGiN]

Originally posted by Melusine: So we should do all we can to prevent it, yet respect a person's wishes if there's really nothing left for them to care about in the world.

But why?
Cause things doesn't always pick up. And I'm not talking about teenage angst or temporary depresses, I'm talking about people who are tired of living, and has given it plenty of thought.
Why can't we see it as the solution to ending misery that it is?
Why do we do everything we can to keep them suffering?

[Melusine]

Ummm Regin, I'm actually agreeing with you, read my post again.
So I'll repeat; I do feel that people have the right to decide whether they want to live or die, BUT I am not advocating the societal indifference some people display. Giving the people the right to decide to commit suicide doesn't mean we don't CARE if they commit suicide! What's wrong with trying to help them overcome their suicidal tendencies. Usually, the people that we are able to help are the ones that WANT help anyway, the ones who've already decided won't be discovered until it's too late.