Thread: Right to Commit Suicide?

I think people should be able to. Of course no person in their right mind would commit suicide out of the blue, but those who have been really screwed over in life should have the option. This is not to say I think they SHOULD commit suicide, as I would suggest some type of counseling/advice first, but making it illegal is ridiculous.

Everything is suicide.

It is beautiful.

Why the **** is it even a crime? someone else, YES, but yourself? retarded.

I must take the opportunity to quote Terry Pratchett:

Suicide was against the law. Johnny had wondered why. It meant that if you missed, or the gas ran out, or the rope broke, you could get locked up in prison to show you that life was really very jolly and thoroughly worth living.

What Kiza said... That quote is made of win.

And no, it should not be against the law. If a police officer tried to arrest me for doing it, I'd assault him/her on purpose in the hopes that they shoot me out of self defense.

I'm not sure where I stand on the issue either, but, just to bring up an argument from the other side:

Homicide is illegal for a very good reason, and that is to promote a functional society. And suicide is just a very special case of homicide.

If suicide were legal, that would be like saying: Listen folks, it's NOT okay to kill people, but it's okay to kill YOURSELF. (Why? Am I not a person, too?)

Homicide being illegal and suicide being legal would be very contradictory. If something's going to be against the law, it may as well be against the law evenly across the board.




But obviously there's no easy solution because Terry Pratchett's quote there sums up the problem quite well!

It's your life, it's your decision. But, it's not in the human's nature to kill themselves, so in that case they are mentally unstable.

It's supposed to be in our nature to survive, not die.

I have to counter that, Mes. Y'see, homicide is impinging on the freedom of another person. Namely, the freedom to not be killed. It may not be a very sophisticated freedom, but it's a pretty big one. Suicide, though, is in your hands. You're not impinging on anyone elses freedom except your own. And your freedom is completely yours, as is your life, and both are decided by you as to what to do with them.

I don't necessarily support suicide. Sometimes, there are better way of resolving things. But the point remains valid.

Also,

Originally Posted by ClouD

Everything is suicide.

It is beautiful.

:/ Explain.

^^ I agree with that argument, although I doubt it would convince law-makers. Whenever I hear the it's your life argument, I think of some 14 year old boy shouting at his mom, "It's MY life, I can do whatever I WANT!" and slamming his bedroom door.

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

^^ I agree with that argument, although I doubt it would convince law-makers. Whenever I hear the it's your life argument, I think of some 14 year old boy shouting at his mom, "It's MY life, I can do whatever I WANT!" and slamming his bedroom door.

It is his life, and he can do whatever he wants. Even though his decision may be stupid, since he is more than likely stupid.

People make dumb decisions, suicide *in most cases* is one of them.

Surely there must be a more eloquent argument than "it's my life and I can do what I want with it." I mean... surely! Come on!

Maybe one reason why that argument is really only used by kids is because adults understand that it's not always about your life.

So, basically what you're saying, nitsuJ, is it's his choice. Free will, right? Please, correct me if I'm misunderstanding you. Yes, there is free will. And, if through his suicide he doesn't impinge on anyone else, I kind of agree with that.

Free will, though, is not an excuse to whatever the hell you want. I'll have to pinch another quote from Terry Pratchett for this (somewhat paraphrased):

"There is always a choice."
"You mean I could choose certain death?"
"A choice nevertheless, or perhaps an alternative. You see I believe in freedom. Not many people do, although they will of course protest otherwise. And no practical definition of freedom would be complete without the freedom to take the consequences. Indeed, it is the freedom upon which all the other are based."

Basically, that's free will for me. Yes, you can do whatever you want, but you're going to have to face the consequences if you really believe it's an excuse to do whatever you want.

I realise that was a bit of a tangent. I just wanted to get that out.

Originally Posted by nitsuJ

It is his life, and he can do whatever he wants. Even though his decision may be stupid, since he is more than likely stupid.

People make dumb decisions, suicide *in most cases* is one of them.

I've always thought that too. Hearing about suicide has always angered me because it seems like a selfish thing that only leaves the person's loved ones in pain.

But...

Is it really a stupid decision? Is he really more than likely stupid? I mean, considering we don't know the circumstances of a person's suicide. We don't know why or what reasons they have for committing the act.

It's like abortion. People say it's dumb unless under the circumstances of rape or incest.

If I said, "I killed someone today." You may be horrified and disgusted. What if I said, "I killed a well-known serial killer, child rapist, and bank robber."? Now that you actually know the situation, does it really still seem dumb?

Originally Posted by De-lousedInTheComatorium

It's like abortion. People say it's dumb unless under the circumstances of rape or incest.

If I said, "I killed someone today." You may be horrified and disgusted. What if I said, "I killed a well-known serial killer, child rapist, and bank robber."? Now that you actually know the situation, does it really still seem dumb?

Abortion is an entirely different situation because the fundamental conflict of abortion is if/when the fetus is considered a human life. Such a conflict does not exist with suicide.

If you killed someone today, it would seem dumb under any circumstance because if you kill someone today, maybe you will kill someone tomorrow, and then somewhere down the line maybe you will kill an innocent person.

Originally Posted by De-lousedInTheComatorium

I've always thought that too. Hearing about suicide has always angered me because it seems like a selfish thing that only leaves the person's loved ones in pain.

But...

Is it really a stupid decision? Is he really more than likely stupid? I mean, considering we don't know the circumstances of a person's suicide. We don't know why or what reasons they have for committing the act.

It's like abortion. People say it's dumb unless under the circumstances of rape or incest.

If I said, "I killed someone today." You may be horrified and disgusted. What if I said, "I killed a well-known serial killer, child rapist, and bank robber."? Now that you actually know the situation, does it really still seem dumb?

That's why I said in most cases suicide is dumb, I can see some reasons a person would consider suicide and it'd be a decent decision. Like someone with cancer so bad that they're going to die soon anyways, and they're in constant pain, or something terrible like that. But, people killing themselves because their girlfriend/wife, or boyfriend/husband leave them, or some other stupid reason like that is just dumb.

Those people should be punched square in the face by kangaroo.

Originally Posted by Kiza

Originally Posted by ClouD

Everything is suicide.

It is beautiful.

:/ Explain.

We are running our selves into the ground.
That is the only thing to do.
With every breath, dying, expending.

We all have 'right'. By birth, we have every right.
We can kill another person with that birthright, restrict them from killing themselves, proclaim laws.

We are animated soil, waves of the ocean overlapping into ourselves.
Yes, I say this dance is beautiful.