Society's View

How do people view suicide?



Suicide is a permanent decision
that makes it impossible
to make any other decisions

Way back in Ancient Greece and Rome, along with other eastern cultures, suicide wasn't prohibited but sometimes was considered nobel (Suicide Lector). A person would commit suicide to become a martyr for a cause that they were fighting for. Some philosophers from these early times were for suicide. The ultimate freedom to take your own life needed to belong to you if you chose it or else you were not "free" from the ruling and power of others. Against suicide were still other philosophers. They believed that people should not take their own life but should be prevented from trying to do such. In taking their own life a person would not be able to make any other choices which should not be the case (Suicide Lector).
 

There are also many religious views. Almost all believers and their religions agree that suicide is overall something that should not take place. The only real exceptions to this is the religions of Islam and Confucianism. The Islam believers who are suicide bombers are not considered as people committing suicide but rather as martyrs so it is acceptable. The religion of Confucianism has the belief that it is okay to commit suicide as long as it is helping and is good for the society as a whole (Suicide Lector). An example of this can be found in Japan. Say there you have a huge debt that you will never be able to pay back, then if you were to die, no one would have to deal with that burden and the debt would not have to be repaid, in return helping the family (Beam).
 

The main things that come to mind when society thinks of suicide are teens and bullying. Many believe that teens are the main group of people that take their own lives, but the old, elderly, and terminally ill patients also have a very high trend of killing themselves. Also, bullying is something that can cause a person to commit suicide but is by no means the only one. Someone may be in financial trouble or be in a huge breakup with someone.

Overall, in society today, there are mainly two ways that people see suicide. Some believe that it is wrong because you have to value your life. It is an important gift given to you and you have to treat it with respect. "According to this ‘sanctity of life’ view, human life is inherently valuable and precious, demanding respect from others and reverence for oneself. Hence, suicide is wrong because it violates our moral duty to honor the inherent value of human life, regardless of the value of that life to others or to the person whose life it is" (Cholbi). Still many others argue that suicide or the act of killing yourself is allowable. They believe that you own your own body, no one else does, so you should be able to get rid of it whenever you see fit. You have a right to end your life (Cholbi).