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The morality of suicide
Hume's Ethical Writings
The morality of suicide
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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 …show more content…
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 …show more content…
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.
One constant between all cultures is the understanding that all lives will come to an end. Throughout one’s lifetime, virtue, character, and morality are sought, through different ideals and methods, with the overall endgame being the most ethical and desirable outcome possible. There are times, however, when an individual may feel like there is no hope of reaching a successful existence; therefore the act of suicide becomes a viable option. The decision to voluntarily take one’s life has always been a topic of discussion on ethical grounds. Whether or not the decision to die is an ethical one can be argued depending on from which ethical theory the act is being evaluated.
The position of God and misery is a quite difficult position. Hume the author of this book wanted to show that not everything has to involve a God and it is not reasonable to do so. Hume’s characters resemble points that generally describe opinions of the general population of the Earth. With this he is able to create a dialogue that all people can relate to. But his intention of this book is not to support all opinions but his own.
Can suicide be justified as morally correct? This is one of the many questions Immanuel Kant answers in, “The Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals”. Kant discusses many questions with arguable answers, which explains why he is one of the most controversial philosophers still today. Throughout Kant’s work, multiple ideas are considered, but the Categorical Imperative is one of the most prevalent. Though this concept is extremely dense, the Categorical Imperative is the law of freedom that grounds pure ethics of the metaphysics of ethics.
Socrates could easily be viewed as suicidal due the portrayal put forth in Plato’s Five Dialogues. First, there is the Apology. Numerous times Socrates was given the opportunity to defend himself in a manner that would be persuading to the jury, but he seemed to have sullied each and every chance. A compelling argument for why his actions were not the crimes he was accused of committing was given, yet he did so with harsh logic and never with an appeal to emotions. He believes such appeals, for instance, bringing his family to court, would be beneath him while acknowledging it would have aided his case with, “you will more readily convict a man who preforms these pitiful dramatics in court… than a man who keeps quiet” (Plato 39). Socrates also
The next major theory on how one obtains knowledge comes from David Hume’s Empiricism. Empiricism itself is the idea that all knowledge obtained is done so through senses or experiences throughout life. This theory itself clearly contrasts with rationalism as rationalists believe at no point that they should gain knowledge through senses/experiences. Furthermore, as an empiricist, he does not value anything that is not attained through experience. One of Hume’s beliefs is the idea that everyone is born with a mental “blank slate”. Because all knowledge we gain is thought to be gained through experience (which a newborn would have none at that point) the “slate” starts as blank and will filled in as the person learns through experiences. This
The question which I shall look at for the Autumn Term part of this Take-Home Exam is: According to Kant, suicide is immoral. What is his argument for this claim? Does his theory really generate this result, when applied to the case of suicide? Why or why not?
Megan Darnley PHIL-283 May 5, 2014 Compatibilism and Hume. The choices an individual makes are often believed to be by their own doing; there is nothing forcing one action to be done in lieu of another, and the responsibility of one’s actions is on him alone. This idea of Free Will, supported by libertarians and is the belief one is entirely responsible for their own actions, is challenged by necessity, otherwise known as determinism. Those championing determinism argue every action and event is because of some prior cause.
and causes suicide can be prevented. Suicide is an intentional attempt to kill oneself whether it is
The ultimate goal of Hume’s essay is to “restore men to their native liberty, by examining all the common arguments against Suicide, and showing that that action may be free from imputation of guilt or blame” (On Suicide, p.55). He argues that people’s confusion about the morality of suicide is based on the “superstition being found on false opinion” (On Suicide, p.55) and can only be gone “when true philosophy has inspired juster sentiments of superior powers” (On Suicide, p.55). He states that “if suicide be criminal, it must be a transgression of our duty either to God, our neighbor, or ourselves” (On Suicide, p.55).
It is obvious to the TV viewer that under the banners of compassion and autonomy, some are calling for legal recognition of a "right to suicide" and societal acceptance of "physician-assisted suicide." Suicide proponents evoke the image of someone facing unendurable suffering who calmly and rationally decides death is better than life in such a state. They argue that society should respect and defer to the freedom of choice such people exercise in asking to be killed. This essay intends to debunk this point of view on the basis of mental illness among those patients involved.
It is an unfortunate truth that some see their lives a nothing and decided to take away their own lives with the slip of their own hands. It seems viable to say that if Keats were to know of how many lives are wasted by voluntary suicide, he would be angered to see human beings giving up when he himself fought through his life until his last breath. When Keats learned of his eminent demise, he did not shy away from his life, instead he embraced the hand that life dealt for him and tried to make the worst of a situation into the best of his work. The Academy of American Poets writes, “He felt that death was already upon him, referring to the present as his “posthumous existence.” (The Academy of American Poets) In other words, there is a message to all readers that there is much to live for rather than intentionally snuffing out your life for reasons that are
Typically, the utilitarian recital of morality provides no strong and fast answers about suicide - each case is separate rely on its consequences. It is disputable whether a person decease is legitimately reducing the amount of suffering and/or incremental the general prosperity.
Amber Ramos Philosophy Prof. Grimwade 18 April 2016 Hume “Of Suicide” Suicides known definition is the act or an instance of taking one's own life voluntarily and intentionally. People choose to commit suicide for many different reasons it is not always to seek death but to try to gain something else from dying it can be happiness; afterlife or they even believe that happiness will come to them if they commit suicide. There are many controversies that come into the topic of suicide such as; we are given free will so why are we not allowed to choose when and how we want to die, that if someone views their life as meaningless why cant they just commit suicide. The moral right of suicide shouldn’t be determined by our free will, how we
In ancient history suicide was condemned to be a morally wrong sin. Plato claimed that suicide was shameful and its perpetrators should be buried in unmarked graves. When the Christian Prohibition came into play a man by the name of St. Thomas Aquinas defended the prohibition on three grounds. These are that suicide is contrary to natural self-love, whose aim is to preserve us. Suicide injures the community of which the individual is a part of. Suicide ...
This essay examines the reasons why a person of good physical health decides to terminate their own life. It does not consider euthanasia, assisted or forced suicide. Compared to most aspects of psychological health it is limited in scope for research – no “follow-up” can be performed, if the act is completed, and no ethical panel would approve experiments to demonstrate a causal link. Suicide has “no one single cause or stressor” according to the Lancet 2011.