[Protagoras]

So, why do so many people think suicide is wrong? It doesn't make sense to me, there are all these people saying that it is wrong, pathetic, pitiful, sad, etc. However, I can't find a reason to believe that it is bad. I think suicide should be seen as a normal, reasonable and legitimate option for anyone.

So, here are my debate questions:

If you are opposed to suicide and/or think it is wrong:
Could you please explain why you think it is wrong and shouldn't be allowed/accepted/tolerated/etc.?

If you are not opposed to suicide and/or don't think it's wrong:
What do you think causes other people to be anti-suicide on principle?

Please do note that I mean suicide in general, not the suicide of a particular individual, because I can think of reasons for not allowing certain people to commit suicide (for as far as that's possible).

[scarygirl]

Hum, seeing someone suicide is sad. Maybe what moves people is emotion in most cases. Truth is it sad, but under some cases,
I find it good and legitimate. Who decides about who?

[chaeriean]

people who wish to end their lives because they suffer from clinical depression should not be allowed to do so. people who wish to end their lives based on false perceptions of themselves should not be allowed to do so. otherwise i would be dead, because there have been many instances in my life where i thought the only option was killing myself to remove myself from the world so that no one would have to deal with my horrible, awful existence and everybody would be glad i was gone. i was forced not to do it and now that i am beginning to have some self-worth and i am beginning not to be so depressed i am very grateful i was stopped. as for euthanasia i fully believe it is the individual's right to decide or in circumstances where suicide might be necessary (not including a person's mental concerns or perceptions regarding themselves but outside circumstances) it is also their right. such as cultural reasons or finding yourself in a situation you cannot survive or judging the worth of suicide is greater than the worth of living by a system of values other than "i am awful/sad/etc". a person is always in control of their own body, they may do whatever they see fit to it. however what suicide prevention aims to do is to stop people from taking their own lives when it isn't necessary or even when they simply don't have the judgment to make that call.

[Protagoras]

people who wish to end their lives because they suffer from clinical depression should not be allowed to do so. people who wish to end their lives based on false perceptions of themselves should not be allowed to do so. otherwise i would be dead, because there have been many instances in my life where i thought the only option was killing myself to remove myself from the world so that no one would have to deal with my horrible, awful existence and everybody would be glad i was gone. i was forced not to do it and now that i am beginning to have some self-worth and i am beginning not to be so depressed i am very grateful i was stopped. as for euthanasia i fully believe it is the individual's right to decide or in circumstances where suicide might be necessary (not including a person's mental concerns or perceptions regarding themselves but outside circumstances) it is also their right.

I understand how that might play a part in one's ethical views. However, isn't this a bit unrealistic and absolutist? Who is to decide what a right perception of yourself and the world is? Following your logic you can make a 'right' perception in which no one would be allowed to commit suicide, because suicide in itself might then be seen as a part or a consequence of the perception. Therefore, I do not find your answer satisfactory... could you please specify what you mean by "having a wrong perception of yourself"? Perhaps that would help me to reach to same conclusion as you have reached.

[Amyrose]

Speaking from personal experience; my dad committed suicide, and I have been suicidal.. It is not a simple thing to explain or excuse. No one should be made to feel guilty for having these thoughts. Usually it’s a last resort. And it doesn’t mean you are crazy. Some of the most intelligent people in the world have considered suicide.

[chaeriean]

i think the conclusion i have reached is the same issue that everybody in the world has debated and is debating. what constitutes as correct judgment? are sick patients capable of making correct judgment? in my opinion incorrect judgment comes when a person has no evidence to back up their claims. for instance, feeling as if you are a horrible human being without having done anything horrible. versus feeling as if you are a horrible human being after you have raped and killed two children. one of them is an incorrect judgment, one of them is. basing the desire to kill yourself off of false information is incorrect. however i know situations are not as black-and-white as that. i cannot account for every situation or every person's thought. what constitutes horrible? what constitutes a horrible emotion? i cannot answer those questions. what i am answering from is from the perspective of someone who had been denied suicide as an option and subsequently was grateful for that denial.

[Teigue]

I have thought about this issue before and I am on the fence about it. On the one hand I believe people should have control over that part of their life, but I also believe people there is usually a much better option then suicide.

[Protagoras]

i think the conclusion i have reached is the same issue that everybody in the world has debated and is debating. what constitutes as correct judgment? are sick patients capable of making correct judgment? in my opinion incorrect judgment comes when a person has no evidence to back up their claims. for instance, feeling as if you are a horrible human being without having done anything horrible. versus feeling as if you are a horrible human being after you have raped and killed two children. one of them is an incorrect judgment, one of them is. basing the desire to kill yourself off of false information is incorrect. however i know situations are not as black-and-white as that. i cannot account for every situation or every person's thought. what constitutes horrible? what constitutes a horrible emotion? i cannot answer those questions. what i am answering from is from the perspective of someone who had been denied suicide as an option and subsequently was grateful for that denial.

Then I guess your argument is more emotional than logical, if you can't say for sure how clouded other people's feelings and thoughts are, then you can't really put your ethical rule of needing to prevent people with clouded judgements from committing suicide to practice. You just postulate that what works for you will also work for them, but how could you know for sure? The simple fact that you and I have resisted the temptation of committing suicide and haven't regretted resisting it doesn't really give us the right to decide for others what is better for them, does it? I think your argument is very healthy from a psychological point of view, but I just can't fit it into a logical sense of justice or a valid system of ethics which is applicable to all situations (which bothers me)... being anti-suicide on principle seems to be a purely emotional/personal and therefore a non-universal and above all unethical matter to me.

[RabbitHeart]

I think the reason that humanity is typically very anti-suicide is because often when people begin to talk about the idea of commiting suicide, they want help. My friend slit his writs (We're talking one time gashes, suicide attempt, not a "cutting" issue.) because he wanted attention from his parents, his peers and he felt like he wasn't getting respect. I think being potentially homosexual as well fueled his problems. Was he really trying to kill himself? I'm uncertain, but the fact is that often there are ways to help people who are depressed enough to get to this state. He's totally fine now and actually was shortly after he got the attention he really desired and realized that he was loved and respected.

If someone says, "I'm going to kill myself. This is the end. There is nothing else for me" I'm inclined to think that there may be a part of them that doesn't believe that and really wants someone to help get them out of a rough spot in life. Which is entirely possible. So if someone is entertaining the notion, people are apt to insist that they do not. If they didn't and that person was reaching out (even if in an extreme way), it would most certainly not help things. I think that's why people are adamant about people not commiting suicide. There is normally help.

However, there are people who are actually, truly inclined to kill themselves. Is it unethical of them? Not inherently. Maybe if there are kids involved or if someone is depending on them being alive to go on themselves...

But what makes something wrong? Are there things you can do to yourself that are worse than dying? That I can't answer completely. In my mind, though... something that is ethically and morally wrong involves harming others. And though suicide normally harms others, what if it's a person with no personal attachments?

All in all, death is a scary issue for most people. The fear of it is the reason we do half of the things that we do. So, when someone gets to a point where they're not afraid of it and in fact bring it upon themselves, it's far too much for us to accept. It sort of goes against our basic instinct of survival, which is further proof that we are much more than just animal.

[Protagoras]

However, there are people who are actually, truly inclined to kill themselves. Is it unethical of them? Not inherently. Maybe if there are kids involved or if someone is depending on them being alive to go on themselves...

But what makes something wrong? Are there things you can do to yourself that are worse than dying? That I can't answer completely. In my mind, though... something that is ethically and morally wrong involves harming others. And though suicide normally harms others, what if it's a person with no personal attachments?

I also think this argument is somewhat 'corrupted' by emotion, after all you are portraying the suicidal individual as being a mere instrument for others to use. Why can't this particular individual commit suicide? Because he has emotional obligations to his/her friends and family. Now, wait a minute. Is this person somehow a tool to be used by others? Is this individual responsible for making others happy? No, only if he decides that he/she is responsible for this. So, I think the whole "you have to stay alive for your loved ones" argument isn't really convincing either, unless the person in question values these people (far) more than he values him- or herself. So, that's a rather big assumption.