Hume's Philosophical Theory Of Suicide

When learning about Humes one of the most interesting parts of his philosophical theory was suicide. He blatantly attacks others’ views, that we have a job and duty to God, to live and in turn to not kill ourselves. He tries to challenge the rationality of suicide and unfortunately does not come to a complete conclusion. Many even criticize is his attempts at destroying the duty theory. One must consider as if stepping into Hume’s thoughts, one must ask several questions. Does suicide make sense? If so, is there ever a rational time to commit suicide? And if there can be a rational time, is life worth living in the first place? Why is it such a controversial topic? When considering these questions one must step back and view the opinion at

Suicide is often carried out as a result of despair, the cause of which is frequently attributed to a mental disorder such as depression. Most traditions deem self-imposed death as an unspeakable taboo and do not understand exactly why there would be any logic behind the act. Thinking you are better off dead can be due to many causes, whether it is emotional stress or even knowing death is inevitable. Those who contemplate suicide or have made attempts believe that there is no other solution. Humes asks the question. Are you actually better off dead because you believe something better is on the other side or is it due to the suffering that would follow if life were continued? What is actually bad about death? Of course, all our material possessions we worked hard for would be memories left behind with our families and friends. While our bodies decay, who is to say we aren’t escaping the worst? For all we know, death can

Some believe the one goal in life should be to maximize intrinsic happiness. If the negatives outweigh the positives you 'll be better off. You may have a dog that loves you and a roof over your head, but if the roof is made of cardboard and food is scarce while at the same time believing you are better off in a grave than some would say you have a valid reason to want death. At the same time, the container theory acts as a countermeasure. This theory dictates that living itself is better than anything bad that could be consuming your thoughts. The value you put on life can determine the grand total of positive and negative points, but in turn the negatives may barely equal the positives. By dying, you could miss out on the best part of life, causing a hypothetical regret on suicide. The very sliver of hope that this could happen causes a desire to reconsider death and this is what typically hold people back. The thought that better could arrive. The thought that suffering would continue is what pushers more people the breaking point. You would be better off dead if suffering would only continue, but who can tell if that would be so unless from a medical professional, even than on occasion, instances of "medical miracles" happen and can turn a person who was once in a vegetative state to run a 5k.