Ruling on Suicide

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Recommended: Objections to physician assisted suicide

There are many widespread controversies specifically relating to suicide, whether it occurs solely, or with the assistance of a physician. That is why I have decided to write about, as well as analyze, an even more specific moral dilemma relating directly to suicide, then thoroughly discuss the options the person in this dilemma has, and which I believe to be the best choice.
Suppose Linda is an elderly widow at the age of 75. She is without children and the few friends that she still has contact with live out of town. Linda is in relatively good physical shape, but mentally, she has been suffering from the effects of depression and is beginning to turn to the thought of suicide. In the past, she had suffered from depression, but was able to overcome it. Linda does, in fact, have one sibling remaining who responds to her idea of suicide by saying that she would be extremely upset to lose her, but she lives out of town as well, and the most consolation Linda can receive from her sister is a phone call. Linda now finds herself at a sort of crossroad; does she sacrifice her own individual happiness in order to spare her sister’s feelings, or does she dismiss all external judgments and go through with the thought of suicide regardless? Let’s weigh out the options, Linda could commit suicide without a second thought, knowing she would find mental relief from it. She could also try to find some sort of value to incorporate into her life that would make life worthwhile for her and a bit more upbeat. For example, Linda could pick up arts and crafts, get a pet to keep her company, enroll in a yoga class to relieve tension and also allow her to meet new people that are in her area. She also could restrain herself from ending her life in r...

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...ll give value to her life, and also pleasure so that she will have something to look forward to instead of holding onto hopelessness. Being that Linda is suicidal, her desire to end her life is a result of not seeing anything in particular to look forward to, which includes seeing no pleasure for herself in the future. The contradiction is that those that are suicidal, like stated in the last sentence, cannot see those pleasures or usefulness for the remainder of their life, but if they were able to they would not possess the desire to end themselves with suicide because they would have a reason to live and something to stay alive for because they would return to the natural view where Kant argues that the majority of human beings contain a natural desire to continue living their life because they are, in fact, able to see pleasure and meaning in their futures.

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