Documentos

Does Failure Justify Suicide?

Suicide has been a controversial practice since the beginning of recorded history. Some cultures have considered it an acceptable relief from the sadness or failurein a person’s life. Others considered it a failure in itself, taking it as a cowardly way to flee from the hardships of life instead of overcoming them. Even to this day opinions about it are mixed,and nearly every person has a different way to view it. I will try to share my personal view on suicide in this paper, but just as anyone else’s, it won’t be a black-or-white absolute. Instead, I willshow in which ways I consider suicide justifiable, and in which ways I don’t.
As mentioned above, suicide is taken by some to be an acceptable escape from a harsh reality. Take the stoics forexample. According to them, if life is too full of sadness, despair, or any other emotion of that sort, it is considered a detrimental state for a human being, and therefore suicide would be a morallyacceptable way for human beings to free themselves. I disagree completely with that. I believe that no matter the amount of sadness or failure that you are going through in life, giving up on your life andproblems instead of attempting to overcome them is a greater failure than anything you could experience in life. Life is something that you have not given yourself, but rather something given to you,therefore the right to take it away from yourself or someone else does not belong to you. Yes, I must admit, this is quite a biased argument, because indeed I am looking at it from my religious pointof view. However, this does not mean I can’t justify my opposition objectively. As a Christian, I do believe life is a gift from God, and that it must serve some purpose in this world and thereforeit is wrong to end it and prevent the fulfillment of said purpose. I will not focus on the subject of whether or not suicide condemns the soul to eternal damnation or not, because taking this...