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Articles: Philosophy on Suicide |
Posted by
Sticupus on Friday, June 21, 2002 - 10:26 PM PST
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.
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Philosophy on Suicide | Login/Create an account | 10 Comments |
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Re: Philosophy on Suicide
by Sticupus (sticupus@hotmail.com)
on Jun 21, 2002 - 11:17 PM
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Keep in mind that in the Kevorkian paragraph I typed "patience", when I in actuality I meant "patients". This is spell checks' fault, and it slipped through the cracks of the grammar nazis. But all is well.
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Re: Philosophy on Suicide
by IamSquid (AAA@sockmonkeys.net)
on Jun 22, 2002 - 12:20 AM
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Death, like sex are supposed to be beautiful things but can easily become very ugly. Death, like sex, is feared and loathed by the masses which is odd because each are an essential part of the cycle of life. And in each mass amounts of energy are realeased.
I think of death as the final initiation if done correctly. Personally, I am not ready to die because I have not undergone all of the initiations I believe are required to prior to death in order to move on. Death is about life. But when the time comes, I will know it and I will die (at my own hand if neccessary, but without getting into my Jesus complex, most likely at the hands of another).
As for the subject of the Japanese outlook on suicide, I think it's important to note the differance between harakiri and seppuku. Seppuku is an honorable suicide, a good illustation of this would be the boy Emporer's suicide in Lone Wolf and Cub. Harakiri is a dishonorable suicide, if a warrior becomes a prisoner for example. The entire concept is based on Bushido of which the sole message is I believe that there is something greater than one's self. Therefor a warrior is a warrior, not a person who is a warrior. Exsistance is meaningless without purpose. Live by the sword, die by the sword.
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Re: Philosophy on Suicide
by Comedian (eccentrically_long@yahoo.com)
on Jun 22, 2002 - 05:47 AM
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Under the japanese example, you forgot seppuku, the recourse of the dishonored man.
The Japanese stories of mass suicide are sometimes amazing; 78 Ronin, possibly one of the most famous stories in Japan and always an excellent kaubki theatre performance to witness is a great tale of dishonor and the final acts of men who realize there is no more left for them in this world. The clan master commits seppuku because of his previous dishonor to a rival clan leader; he cannot commit hara-kiri because he has fallen far below that level of face in the society; his 78 ronin, after learning of the death of their master, attack the rival clansmen and murder them all, and then commit hara-kiri, having served honor to their lord and been allowed to die a much more painful death.
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Re: Philosophy on Suicide
by Psychopixi on Jun 24, 2002 - 05:47 AM
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Suicide. Hmm. I used to think that it was for the weak, but about 2 years ago I changed my mind. No particular reason behind the sudden 180 in my thoughts I just decided I was wrong.
In the instance of suicide when the person in question is ill and suffering then I think that if they want to die they should be allowed to. I know that if I found myself in that situation then I would want to end it on my terms, while I still had the ability to communicate my wishes. How awful to be dying, and in excruciating pain, knowing that the people around you have the *ability* to end it for you but not the *power* to do so while the law deems assisted suicide illegal.
In the case of people using the threat of suicide as a way of getting attention, I’ve met these people and I have no time for them. A girl in my school told me she was going to kill herself because she was “so unhappy”. (She wasn’t getting things her own way.) She never tried to though. I think that if a person genuinely wants to kill themselves then they are not going to go around telling everyone of their intentions – their motive then is all too clear – they want the attention of people crowding around them telling them not to do it, that life isn’t that bad. This is nothing more than emotional blackmail and I think it’s pathetic.
I agree with Sticupus, I think that suicide *is* the right of any person. No-one has the right to tell someone else how to live, why should they have any more rights in telling them how to die?
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Re: Philosophy on Suicide
by DarkMistress on Jul 03, 2002 - 05:53 PM
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I must agree, however in a 'gnostic christian' point of view (and no, I'm NOT a gnostic christian) suicide does nothing but hold you back. My mother's into the gnostic christianity stuff and we were discussing suicide, she told me that in her beliefs if one was to kill oneself then they would not pass to the other side, their soul would be "cocooned" until ready to come back and land in the same situation they were stuck in in a previous life.
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