Suicide

Suicide is the act of intentionally taking one’s own life. Because this definition does not specify the outcome of such acts, it is customary to distinguish between fatal suicide and attempted, or nonfatal, suicide.

Views on suicide

Timo Virkkala argued that suicide is (or can be) a tort against others because it constitutes littering with one's body, by abandoning it, if one does it carelessly. Thomas Szasz's book Fatal Freedom defends every individual's right to choose a voluntary death. Peter McWilliams writes, "Our culture's taboo against suicide often keeps people who are thinking about suicide from talking about it. By talking about it, people can often get the emotional and psychological support they need to see them through a rough time. When people are afraid to talk about it, the pressures can increase to the point that they actually do something about it. If suicide itself were not forced to be—by law—such a lonely activity, we might have fewer suicides. Even if we did not, however, there is no reason for laws that make one's last moments painful and lonely."

Links

• Comment on Hospers by David Gordon, 1980
• Suicide at Wikipedia