I'm asking again, my teacher said the most difficult philosophical question is whether or not to....?

Question

commit suicide. I get how that could be a debatable question but is it really the most difficult? I guess why he says that is because of thoughts like "what's so special about me, who am I to the world, I'm worthless, etc" and the idea that after death there's endless nothingness, so what's the point? and things like that questioning what is a life, questioning whether or not to END a LIFE. So is there? A more difficult question?
PLz n thnX!
<33
Kassy

To answer the question would I be willing to risk dying to help others, YES, I would. And to reply to tosunny, "Is there anything after and is IT worth anything." you just said RIGHT before that that it has nothing to do with worthlessness.
<33

Answer 1

Its not necessarily the most difficult but it could be the most important (and perhaps therefore indirectly difficult).

Max Weber said "For those who contemplate suicide, life is beautiful" (and I tend to agree)

Of course the important part is to consider it but not carry through with it (nor fake it). Here's how I see it: When you consider suicide and don't do it, you are making a concious decision to live, you are living intentionally and by choice.

Up until that point life has just been thrust upon you and you haven't really had any real control over your life, just battered about by the random forces (and planned forces) of the world.

When you decide to live, you are focusing on your reasons to live and defining them and nurturing them and carving out your own niche in life, living because you want to live and not just by some cosmic accident.

Answer 2

No, that IS the most difficult question. It's not really about worthlessness either. It's more about whether you should do any of this at all. Is there anything after and is IT worth anything. Whether or not their is a god is a question of faith, not as much of philosophy. Philosophers can't prove or dis-prove god( though they can prove god is the image the culture most aspires to be, not the other way around). It's the fundamental question that each person asks herself everyday. You may not do it consciously, but you know it's a choice. I would say it's the hardest question for sure.

Answer 3

I honestly think it depend on the person and the state of dispair or pain they are in.

while someone can think they really see all sides of an issue, no one can as a rule. more experience, better understanding all help though honestly saying one question is more difficutl than another is not provable.

to be or not to be, that is the question. What is that be or not be? Honest, or having integrity that will cost you everything?

to lie and cheat or sleep one's way to the top?

to pull a fast one on a trusting friend?

these are moral issues that the character of the person is tested in the crucible.

if you have seen the life of david gale which is a vulgar movie about the death penalty the star, david gale, dies for his presence but non-participation in the suicide of a woman proven by the video shot at the time of the death.

The idea of the movie is that an innocent man died. that is wrong. he was a participant in her death and is guilty of her death just as she is. she died for her crime and he does also.

my own view is he was guilty as charged because he could have stopped it.

again, to be or not to be?

the hardest of questions is your own value structure in the face of reason when your options might seem greater if your view is not jaded.

Answer 4

I think for Hamlet or some other legendary characters that was the main question they struggled with. But I think 'What is truth?' or something along those lines is more difficult. The question "what is being?" has always been a primary philosophical question. What makes the question 'what is truth?' or 'what is being?' or 'who is being?' more difficult than the question of suicide is that it actually challenges the whole basis of reality and is more primary than 'to be or not to be?' which assumes that you have a basis on which to make that decision.

Answer 5

your teacher seems to have read albert camus' 'the myth of sisyphus' and missed the whole point. (teachers do this).

camus never said that 'shall i commit suicide' was a difficult question. (obviously it isn't difficult: all those judas priest fans, david koresh junkies, and jim jones followers were hardly major intellectuals). camus said 'shall i commit suicide' was an important question.

the use of asking yourself 'shall i commit suicide' is that it forces you to face up to what your life means to you, and what it is for.

despair would have been easy for camus. when camus was twenty-seven the germans invaded france and occupied it for the rest of the war. living under german occupation in france camus needed to decide between ending his own life (there seemed nothing left to live for) or joining the french resistance and fighting the nazis (even though he knew that french resistance on its own was almost meaningless: the russians, the british, and the americans would decide the final outcome of the war).

camus decided that if one choose to live one must choose to live heroically: expecting no reward or success, but accepting every trial and disappointment life throws at you. for camus it is not until you have questioned the 'why' of your life that you can understand whether you are truly alive at all.

i think you should tell your teacher that whether or not he kill himself is his problem - and he should stop asking you to solve it for him.

i think you should also consider whether this person is still worth your respect - academically or as a person.

and i think you should read 'the myth of sisyphus'.

Answer 6

well sure there is, i don't know what it is but it's out there. well what about what is the meaning to life? well thats stupid even i know that one! It's to have an effect on another life. Hmm... i don't know. nobody's worthless though... if you start thinking that way then you will go down a dark path. A greater question might be, Why would someone find themselves worthless? Why would someone let themselves fall so far? what flaw of the human mind lets that happen?

Answer 7

Its his opinion. The statistics say hes wrong.....lots of idiots manage to kill themselves, right?
In my opinion if you dont value your life ....give it to someone else. There are aids hospices in this world. A more challenging question... are you willing to risk to die helping others? much fewer people manage this one:)

Answer 8

That is not a question you should even consider. Committing suicide is incredibly stupid, there is always an alternative.

A more difficult question would be one which we can't answer, 'Is there a God?' or something.

Answer 9

Ask him which philosophy would be so anti-life that it's followers would seriously contemplate suicide.