Why assisted suicide is logically flawed
This started out as a comment on Twenty Majors blog post about how he wants the right to end his own life.
I’d like to start by saying I have a serious problem with the phrase "the right to die". It is emotive and political in nature and totally irrational. You cannot remove someones right to something that is inevitable. This is used to turn something which is not that, into a rights issue. People think that language and your choice of words doesn’t matter. It does…
I understand the pain of looking at sick relatives and the wish that there pain could be eased one way or another (been there, still there actually).
The problem with assisted suicide is actually, importantly, a logical one.
The discussion must start with a simple question
1)Is it wrong to kill yourself?
This is a yes or no question. You either think that it is wrong or you do not. If you think it’s ok your position is clear and anyone has the right to kill themselves without interference. If you think it’s wrong then your position is pretty clear too.
Most people in this argument though are guilty of a case of Orwellian doublethink. It goes like this…
So you think it’s ok in certain circumstances, like if the person is extremely ill etc. but generally it’s not ok. Lets examine that…
Twenty’s argument centres around the idea that this should be the choice of the person who’s ill. His argument is an emotional one about how they are best placed to make that decision.
Unfortunately he has failed to recognise that this is a subjective perspective. Don’t get me wrong subjective perspectives are fine. The problem with applying logic to something though is that you must then follow everything to it’s logical conclusion.
So if the individuals subjective perspective is good enough to validate suicide in one circumstance, extreme illness, then how can it not be good enough in another, for instance, perfect health. This problem can be mirrored for the person doing the assisting.
So now we have a different problem, defining the circumstances in which it is ok, we now have a movable line. Who is going to define this new line? What is going to stop it moving again? Have you realised that you’re not making the decisions anymore?
And here we are a hop and a skip from “Logan’s Run”.
August 21st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
No matter for what reason, i just feel it is wrong to suicide!
August 21st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
For arguments sake isn’t there a flaw in YOUR thinking?
You can follow the argument through to its other logical conclusion. That it is ok for anyone to take their own life whether sick or healthy.
Sure we should offer help for those who want it and offer support for the friends and family who go through it.
At the end of the day, if someone is determined to take their own life, for what ever personal reasons, they will find a way to do it. Us saying it is right or wrong is not going to make a damn bit of difference to the deceased but could add to the pain of those left behind.
August 22nd, 2008 at 5:24 am
@Alan That was my point which I made at the start.
“If you think it’s ok (to commit suicide) your position is clear and anyone has the right to kill themselves without interference. If you think it’s wrong then your position is pretty clear too.”
This is perfectly logical which is why I didn’t discuss it further. My issue is with people who think it’s ok in certain circumstances.
PS>I disagree absolutely with your assertion that people will “find a way” to commit suicide so there is no point in stopping them. If I knew someone was suicidal I’d move heaven and earth to stop them because it’s a decision there is no coming back from. People stop people from harming themselves in much lesser ways, why is suicide different.
If you say that suicide is ok then you must realise that that is what you are saying to your own children, which I assume you wouldn’t. (Alright I assume this as a father who the idea of society saying suicide is ok makes me want to vomit with fear).
But you can’t have it both ways, which is the point I’m making in the post
August 22nd, 2008 at 6:55 am
Anton, one could ask if you do not have the right to a DNR (do not resuscitate) notice from what you are saying? After all it’s a decision made in good health about what to do when you’re not in good health. I believe that people should not take their own lives or anyone else take them however, I’m not strongly in favour of locking people willy-nilly who attempt to take their own lives. So in that sense perhaps I do allow that they have the right to try and take their own lives. Fact is that life does not lend itself too easily to black and white positions. Life is gray.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
@Dan A few things
1)DNR is not the issue we’re talking about. A DNR is asking not to be resucitated in the event of major organ failure. In other words if I’m dead leave me that way. Hardly the same as actively commiting suicide.
2)I don’t recall saying people who attempt suicide ought to be locked up by the way.
3)I agree that life does not lend itself to black and white positions. So why create greyness in a situation that has been black and white in our society for centuries. As Johnny Cochrane said in south park “That does not make sense!”
August 30th, 2008 at 2:34 am
It’s hardly a question of wrong or right. It’s a question of freedom.
God damn anyone to hell who thinks they can tell me what to do with my life, my corpus….
It’s always subjective, that’s not in doubt. If someone is suffering from a debilitating disease and wants to die then it is their choice. If someone is in perfect physical health and yet is suffering from mental, emotional or spiritual damage, then it is their choice to end it as well.
August 30th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
This topic will always be subject to experiences and opinions.
I am concerned that we all seem to want strict rules and labels.
Yes or No.
Not that simple as far as I am concerned.
I suppose chief concern is the fact that most suicidal feelings are exageratd by drink and then you can no longer wake up the following morning and think nah its not that bad.
Has any one been following the case of the epidemic in a town in South Wales…very worrying
October 18th, 2008 at 4:18 am
I can only quote Henry Rollins on this: “suicide? I’m not the type”.