Do you think it's wrong to commit suicide? Why do most people think so?

Question

Most people would perceive commiting suicide as sinful, ethically wrong and cowardly. Although these arguments may seem perfectly valid at first, I must say that I disagree. After all, it is one's right to take his or her own life if one so desires. By preventing that, you would have that person suffer more. Besides, it isn't exactly going to affect the human population, is it?
Some would say it is ethically wrong? How so? After all, what are ethics? Ethics is only ethics as far as we perceive it to be as it is.

So my question is this, do you think it wrong for one to commit suicide? And please give your reasons why it is or isn't wrong. Answers in philosophical context preferably.

Thanks and for the record, no I'm not thinking of doing that.

Can we not have answers including god here pls?

Thanks for the imput, everyone. bonniest baby, angel, beyondreaction, frosty: Great answers! Appreciate it a lot.

Answer 1

Yes, suicide is selfish. But so are millionaires. Yes, it is cowardly, but so is blogging on the internet. These things aren't ethically wrong by themselves, so why is suicide? I don't think it's wrong at all. Yes it is hurtful for those around you that care, but so are a multitude of other things you could do. It is your decision. If you (and by you I don't mean YOU T Delfino, just the general "you") commit suicide, chances are pretty high that 50-100 years from now no one will know or care about the reasons or the hows.

Should something be illegal merely because it's selfish? No. Should it be illegal just because it's cowardly? No. How about murder? Well, according to pro-choicer, no. That's a different argument entirely. But, if it is legal to terminate a pregnancy why isn't it legal to terminate your own life? I know many people are against it for religious reasons, others for ethical reasons. But I think, ethically, it's not up to me to decide what's right for you. If you think that's the best possible decision then I can try to talk you out of it (for my own selfish reasons like I would miss you, I love you, etc.) but it is your own decision. If you have nothing left to hold on to here and life is just to hard, wouldn't it be worse for me to create things for you to hold onto and guilt you into not ending all of your worries?

Granted, I would never say this to someone suicidal. This is merely a devil's advocated view of suicide. If a friend of mine even hinted at suicide I would try to talk them out of it and call a hotline for them. I might even talk to a doctor on their behalf.

In summary, I think there are other options available than suicide. Suicidal people may not realize this because they are only seeing the negative right now, but they probably aren't as bad off as they think they are. But if they are, well... I guess ethically it shouldn't be mine or anyone else's choice.

Bringing God into it is also pushing God out of it. Sure, God doesn't want you to commit suicide but God also wants us all to possess our own free will. By pushing your wills on the "godless" then you are corrupting the free will of that individual and, thus, corrupting God's message. Horrible Catch-22, isn't it?

Okay, bring on the thumb downs. We wouldn't want people expressing opnions different from ours, would we?

Answer 2

The usual reason for committing suicide is that one feels one's life is too hard to bear to continue. I doubt that most people think it's wrong. I would say the main reaction was sympathy. For people close to the person who has killed themselves, they may be angry and blame them, but these are parts of the bereavement process and not necessarily ethical judgements per se. There are a number of other possible reasons for suicide than the commonly understood one. It can be:

To save another individual directly - someone may need a vital transplant organ quickly and the person is the only available donor. That's supererogatory and may depend on what else one would have to offer, or what the recipient might contribute.

Protest - to demonstrate dissatisfaction with a political system of which the person disapproves (without directly harming others - i don't mean a suicide bomber, as this is less clearcut). The morality of that act depends on its effectiveness and how bad the political system or issue is.

Performance art - rather like David Blaine or Damien Hurst. This is probably morally neutral.

Sexual act - masochistic, like the person in Germany who was eaten by someone they found on the internet. This would be generally frowned upon.

Responding to the belief that this is the happiest moment of one's life and that anything that comes after cannot possibly be as good. The morality of this one would probably depend on the beliefs of those close to one.

There are probably a lot of others. Many of these could be seen as having a plausibly positive moral element. Others are less OK. However, there are many possibilities, and in fact i can't say the belief that suicide is wrong is one i come across very often.

The odd thing is that the first act seems to be by far the commonest motivation.

Answer 3

I can see suicide as selfish if you're leaving behind people who love or depend on you, but I do not look down on those who want/choose to end their lives. We're all going to die eventually anyways..what is so wrong with taking fate into your own hands? Life isn't great for everyone and in some cases things don't get better..that's reality. People kill themselves because their pain has become unbearable and I would think a loving god(if I believed in god) would understand that. Only a monster would punish a person who is already in so much pain.

Answer 4

I'm actually quite undecided on the subject but i do know that it was originally considered sinful due to religious bias. Aside from that though it is considered very selfish and understandably so because an individual may feel alone and uncared for but majority of these people have families and friends who do love them dearly and are extremely hurt when they take their own lives.
On the other hand suicide is an extremely personal thing. If someone really believes there is nothing left to live for isn't their life their own to take?
Ethically the only thing that is wrong with it is hurting other people. We all have the right to live (or not live) our lives the way we wish.
I would like to mention the controversy over shame suicides in the patriarchal middle east, women are being forced to kill themselves so as to reduce the shame on their family. This is definitely ethically wrong but once again not on the part of the individual.

Answer 5

I'm 65 yrs old and have been through a lot. I have had 2 paralysis, lost 4 babies and throughout the years wondered if life was worth living.
The answer is "Life changes....it will get better"
I have 3 beautiful children and recovered from my paralysis totally (but with much pain and work).
I have helped people who would have received no help had it not been for me. I have healed injured animals. I have used my God given talents of art to bring a small amount of joy to people. I worked as a nurses aide for terminally ill patients, trying to make their last days easier.l
My belief has nothing to do with a Deity or spending eternity in Hell.
It has to do with Hope.
Life is like a roller coaster. It has ups and downs.
I believe tomorrow will be better.
If I die, I will never know what wonderful things I will miss.

Answer 6

Not really a black and white issue really - I have been suicidal in the past and angry at being forced to have help - although later been really glad I was alive!!

I would not recommend it as an option, but know that at the time you think of it, it seems like the only solution to your problems. If you are religious then perhaps it is against your faith. If you are not, perhaps it is less of a taboo.

I hope for you that you are never in the situation that it seems like a good idea!! (I also hope I never again fall into that big black hole!!)

Answer 7

I dont think any of us can even imagine the horror of finding your son/daughter, or your mother/father cold and dead hanging by their neck on a noose. It must truly be horror. Of course it is wrong to put your family through that, everyone has a family, even if you aren't close, it still causes devastation for them

There's something comforting about knowing someone has died naturally as an elderly person, it's mutually accepted that they've done what they needed to do, passed on their wisdom and fulfilled their purpose in life - which for most people is to support their family. Suicide is shocking to everyone that knew the person, because all humans are empathetic, if someone has killed themselves we place ourselves in their shoes and we imagine what they must have been feeling to have wanted to die, i think that is what disturbs us the most - we feel unbearable guilty that we couldn't have helped that person before they became so miserable

Answer 8

Well now, it all depends on what you mean by the word WRONG? What one person thinks of as being "wrong" isn't going to be universally agreed. Wrong in what sense or way? Wrong to whom? Wrong for whom? It obviously doesn't seem "wrong" for the person who takes their own life.

All this bullshit about it being ethically and morally wrong is based on religious doctrine. When suicide was thought of as being sinful and somehow a snub against god who "blessed" you with life. Thus; you should be grateful.

If someone wants to die, you could argue that its wrong to force them to carry on living. Why should they? Just to stop other people from feeling guilty?

I don't advocate suicide! I do actually think it you want to end your life then you are suffering from depression. More often than not, it is treatable and manageable, even if its never completely eradicated or cured.

I also think there IS a place for people to end their own lives IF they are in terrible pain, dying of terminal illness. Assisted suicide and euthanasia need to be talked about, discussed and debated logically and thoroughly.

Besides, I want to know who it is that gets to decide what we are or aren't allowed to do?

Answer 9

I think it is wrong and a very selfish act,as ,most times ,solves the problems of one person,but leaves the others in their life with more unanswered questions.When life is so bad for someone to think about suicide,it must be evident ,even to them ,that there is no lower than the lowest,so things can only get better.In other words ,it is the quick escape option,where one can not cope and runs away from the problem.It places huge questions to ones remaining relatives,moms,kids and so on.

Answer 10

ok, this question was posted a while ago by someone else and my mind has not changed.

i think it is wrong to commit suicide. those who do are generally healthy but unhappy. things that make you unhappy can be changed whereas people who are suffering with an illness cannot change it and would wish that they could live on.
i think it is selfish to take your own life. you affect the people around you by doing that. imagine the people you leave behind wondering if it was something they did or said that made you kill yourself. they could go on the rest of their lives worrying that they drove you to it, and thats not fair!

today a 3 year old i know was buried, he had an uncurable cancer. now, im sure he would have wanted to live on and if he was healthy then maybe that would have been possible. you are put on this earth to live and to breed and to make your life your own. why end it all because of some problem that could easily be solved by talking to someone.

people who commit suicide are cowards in my book. end of.