Philosophy on Suicide Date Thursday, April 25, 2024 - 01:23 AM PST Topic Rant Suicide. Through the centuries, it has been romanticized by Shakespeare plays, and warring nations of World War II. It has been committed by everyone from zealots of the Muslim world, to you next door neighbor. But, what does suicide mean? It goes beyond the dictionary definition "To kill oneself". Suicide in Romeo and Juliet meant an everlasting bond of love that succeeds death. In life, as we all know, love for them was shunned and impossible. But in death, no one can govern their actions, no one can touch them. It is a beautiful bind that fuses them into one, yet separates them from everyone else. Suicide in this instance is love. To look at the Japanese warrior perspective we should look at the two most known examples; hara-kiri and kamikaze. Suicide to a kamikaze pilot was brave and honorable. To die in battle was the only way to die. If you didn't die in battle, there could be a chance you could be a coward. Avoiding death was not an option. It made the Japanese army very strong. How can a nation fight another nation that was willing to destroy itself in the name of honor? American soldiers looked forward to eventually going home, while Japanese soldiers looked forward to victory and an honorable death on the battlefield. Hara-kiri is undeniably a powerful thing. Japanese generals, or powerful men, would perform this ritual suicide by stabbing a short sword into their abdomen, and disembowel themselves in the slowest and most painful way possible. They did this to escape defeat. The shame of defeat was more painful than slow death. The slower and more painful the death, the more courage you obviously have. No one would hold them dishonorable for this suicide but quite the opposite, they would be held in high regards. Suicide in these instances is honor. The religious zealous and cult ideals take suicide to a new level. Muslim suicide bombers kill them selves to fight for what they believe is just. The point of their death is to kill as many people as possible as they suicide. This destroys their enemies and delivers them to God. This shows appreciation and loyalty to God. This is one of the highest forms of death to the Al-Quida Muslim belief. In March of 1997 “Higher Source“, or "Heavens Gate" committed mass suicide to obtain a higher existence. They did not view suicide as death, but escaping their bodies to join beings from outer space. Their bodies were holding them back from this goal, thus they expelled them. In suicide they did not die, they became close to perfection. Suicide here is faith. Dr. Jack Kevorkian has assisted 127 deaths of his patience. His patients were sickly, in pain, and dieing. Some of his patients' pain was so intolerable they would have rather die immediately rather than wait and suffer. These patience however, did not have the option of living a complete life after an illness they can surpass; they were defiantly going to die regardless and in great pain. They were too weak to even kill themselves usually, thus the assistance of a physician was necessary, weather it be Kevorkian or someone else. What is not commonly known is that assisted suicide is practiced in the U.K. today, and has been banned in the United States. These people commit suicide in order to stop the pain caused by old age or disease. This example is to soothe. However, the common concept of suicide in the United States is very different from these examples. Suicide here is thought of as unnecessary, excessive, selfish, dishonorable, weak, and not an option for anyone. If someone commits suicide or attempts to, Americans do not look for the honor, but the shame that caused it. Suicide is sometimes a tool to escape the shame of life's actions. The common example of this is Judas who hanged himself from a tree for misleading Jesus. But the most common scenario is suicide to stop the pain of emotion. Depression can be unbearable, so much so, one must kill oneself to stop the pain. And to add insult to injury, this form of death is shunned, thought of as selfish, dishonorable, etc. It seems as if people only take into account their own feelings; they don't want to be hurt by the loss of a friend, or loved one. Even when the loved one could be suffering more severely than can be imagined. To prevent this pain, the pain of losing someone, we have suicide hotlines, clinics, and depression drugs, not to help the suffer, but instead to reinforce the idea that they are thinking of something shameful and need help to stop doing something bad. Suicide in our culture is not an option and is taboo. In light of all of this here is my own simple of philosophy on suicide. Suicide is the right of any person. It can be the only vehicle to stop pain for some or honor to others. However, I do not recommend it. Life is a complex and short phenomenon. Everyone eventually dies, so why not wait until you yourself cannot help it, why assist it if you are not in physical pain? <--(This is only my personal belief) But one must see the difference between a genuine suicide attempt and a depressed cry for help. If someone wants to kill themselves, no one can stop them, they will succeed. But if I were put in the situation where I found someone, I wouldn't hesitate to save their lives: because if I found them, they wanted me to; they wanted to live. Death is a subject sometimes painful to handle and difficult to discuss, but no one should ever hold bad feelings towards the dead regardless. Death is only another part of life, no matter how you get there; it should not be perused nor ignored. Weather it be suicide or natural death, one quote always seems to make me placid with the thought of either. "Death. Something so universal must be a blessing. This article comes from Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.shmeng.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=352