 Why Suicide is considered as a crime?

 Is Suicide a rational choice of an individual, and not a mental disease

as many people commonly believe.?
 If we allow people or citizen to commit Suicide what applications it
would incur on society?

Technical and most comprehensive definition of Suicide :

[suicide is] an act or omission whose proximate effect results in the person’s
own bodily death, voluntarily and knowingly undertaken, with the intended
objective (whether as an end in itself or as a means to some further end) that
one’s bodily life be so terminated
(Paterson 2003a, 354-5).

By Mohammad Usman
Compiled for answering a single Question. 😍
Moral aspect:

There are 2 important philosophical traditions discussing the moral problem of

suicide.
 One tradition rejects suicide as an immoral act that is against either an
absolute or transcendent order, or against socio-political responsibilities, or
against the duties one has to obey with respect to your own individual life.

 The other tradition argues that a specifically "qualified" suicide is a morally

good privilege of human freedom and self-determination.

Weighting the pros and cons the debate seems to end in a drawn game, perhaps with
little advantages for the position against suicide. In any case, in the end it comes
down to the very question whether a human being is still able to experience that it is
good that he exists and that it is good to be engaged in this existence or not.

How do Psychiatrists see Suicide: Moral or Immoral ?

Psychiatrists are not moral philosophers by training, and the question of whether or
not suicide is “immoral” is arguably the wrong one for psychiatrists to ask. As
mental health professionals, we are, understandably, more concerned with the day-
by-day challenges of detecting “suicidal thinking”; determining who is at high-risk
for suicide; and treating the psychiatric conditions most commonly associated with
suicide, such as major depressive disorder
But on the flip side, the ethical status of suicide is not a question psychiatrists can
ignore, any more than we can ignore human values in general. After all, our duty to
preserve and protect life is founded on moral values, even if they are so deeply
embedded in our medical ethos that we no longer sense their moral underpinnings.
Recently, the moral status of suicide has been scrutinized by the poet and
philosopher Jennifer Michael Hecht, in a book titled, Stay: A History of Suicide
and the Philosophies Against It. Hecht wrote the book in the aftermath of two
suicides-both victims were close friends and fellow poets. In essence, Hecht argues
that suicide cannot be evaluated solely in terms of “personal autonomy,” as some
modern ethicists might claim; rather, we must hold suicide up to the clarifying light
of communal values. Hecht argues that “When a person kills himself, he does
wrenching damage to the community." And this, surely, must be counted among the
“moral harms” of deliberate self-destruction.

Sucidal persons are selfish, they think about themselves only:

None of this means that we should mis-judge those who contemplate or attempt
suicide. Nor should we endorse the harsh view that suicidal people are “selfish” or
indifferent to the feelings of others. On the contrary, the suicidal person is already
burdened by the darkest of thoughts and, often, by corrosive self-loathing-so the last
thing we should do is add to the person’s suffering. Rather, it is our task to comfort
those who are afflicted, not to condemn suicide “from the pulpit.”
Of course, it is also our charge to understand the genesis of suicide, and to treat its
underlying psychiatric causes. This is not to say that all suicides are a consequence
of psychopathology. But even if we accept the notion of a perfectly “rational”
suicide- a dubious concept, in my view-the communitarian argument Hecht is
making remains valid. Any suicide-even in the direst circumstances, and even after
much deliberation--leaves a grotesque gash in the emotional life of families and
communities. It may take years for such a wound to heal, if it heals at all.
For Hecht, suicide’s communal damage is a compelling reason to urge our suicidal
loved ones to “stay”-- and to insist that life isn’t too hard to bear; only “almost too
hard to bear." As psychiatrists, we can discuss the issue of communitarian values
with suicidal patients who wish to do so, without in any way condemning their
suicidal feelings or impulses.
Why don’t we simply allow people to commit suicide:
What are its negative implications?

The concept of rational suicide is highly controversial; it runs counter to many

societal norms, religious and moral convictions, and the efforts of suicide prevention
workers who contend that every life is worth saving.
“The concern that I have at a social level is if we all agree that killing yourself is an
acceptable, appropriate way to go, then there becomes a social norm around that,
and it becomes easier to do, more common,” said Yeates Conwell, a psychiatrist at
the University of Rochester and a leading expert in elderly suicide. That’s
particularly dangerous with older adults because of widespread ageist attitudes, he
said.
Caring people is a responsibility and obligation, sons, and parents and siblings and
commin citizens have responsibility to care about each other and help one another
in survival. If we allow elderly people or disable people or distress people that it is
okay or advisable to commit Sucide, simply we are doing a crime. We are alleviating
young and wealthy elite people to carry on their fuckings and don’t care about needy
people.
By allowing adults to commit Suicide many Young and teenager will learn the same
learn and they will also keep making sucidal attempts. Humanity and homo sapiens
species will be in danger of erasing from this planet.
Also it is a shame to God that the machines that he has created in his your
laboratory (hypothetically) is not capable of performance in life. It is the antithesis
of God purpose if people keep making suicide. So we don’t want to put Question
mark on God’s ability.
Suicide is a Rational choice or irrational:

Sometimes, we don’t know answer to difficult Questions like, why Suicide is

immoral. Then, we have a tool called consciousness and instinct. If you apply
instinctual response someone give when he/she hears about a horrified Suicide it
could tell us what is there deep inside which is not describable in rational terms.
The fact that our impulsive attitude to the news that someone committed suicide
are primarily informed by horror and pity is interpreted as a sign that suicide lies
beyond the realm of actions of whichit makes sense to question their rationality.
Concern about rationality is absent from the pityand horror we feel. We do not try to
comfort bereaved parents by pointing out how rational the suicide of their beloved
child was. Nor would we ever try to prevent someone from committing suicide by
emphasizing how irrational it is. Cowley (a Psychologist) draws the conclusion: that
the feelings of pity and horror that comes to our mind indicates that we by default
mode don’t think of Suicide as a rational act or irrational, but the very feelings
indicates that we subconsciously think of it as a highly irrational act.
But here is another problem that one another scholar points out. People by hearing
someone’s Suicide news not only feels pity and horror but also ask a necessary
Question “ Why”. Why he committed Suicide. Why is a word which needs reasons. If
there is a possibility of reasons, then obviously there is a possibility that many times
a person could come up with good presentable reasons to commit Suicide, and thus
there is a case for a rational Suicide.

Cowley indicates another problem here, that we cannot get inside someone elses
perspective of the world, we cannot determine the rationality or irrationality of his
acts,and all that is left is pity and horror. How can we determine that the reasons the
agent of Suicide thought as a perfect and rational reasons may actually be rational to
the external world, as every agent subjectively thinks. A reason perfect for one agent
could be foolishness for another agent, so it is difficult to decide which Suicide was a
rational one and which wasn’t.

Richard Brandt well-known defence of suicide:

Brandt (another Psychologist) opposes the widespread belief that suicide is
essentially irrational.
His argument is utilitarian: a suicide can be rational if an informed comparison
between the likely benefit of two possible futures points out that a future with the
agent surviving would give less utility (both for others and for the agent himself)
than one without him.
If you think that if you die your death will ease your pain and the pain of your loved
ones, then it is clear that the choice is rationally made between two possible future
scenario.
But as i presented above there are no OBJECTIVE rational reasons, so always it will
remain debatable whether it was rational or irrational choice.
Why Suicide is illegal or a crime or against law: (Pakistani
perspective)

 Quran and Bible is two holy books of law or constitution, so both of them
prohibit committing Suicide, no matter what the situation is. Yes for heaven’s
sake and in Jihad you are allowed ( That’s pretty contradictory, isn’t it guys).

 Pakistanis is Islamic country whatever is prohibited in Quran is also in

Pakistan's constitution.

 Because your Suicide cause harm to ur family and ur society, psychologically

and mentally. So what,? Look if u abuse someone it causes them pain
mentally, and u can be imprisoned for that. So it is proved that causing
someone mental distress is against law.

 Killing a person is crime and no one has right to kill themselves also. You can’t
kill yourself, or even attempt to kill yourself, because doesn’t matter if it is
your body or someone else, you will be charged and Imprisoned. After all, it
was an act of killing of “ human body” urs or someone elses.

 As many of my friends suggested the answer in the whtsapp group, the State
has the responsibility to save human lives, they can’t allow people to kill
themselves, because if all of them did so, one essential part of state “
Population” would diminished.😮

 You have signed a social contract with Govt, you will obey orders and perform
your duties (as a citizen), if you are committing Suicide it means you are
breaking the promise and want to escape away. No You can’t break the deal.
Stay here and do ur duties.🙂 After all you are govt property.

 It’s illegal because your country owns you and they expect you to deliver a
certain value to them during your life time. If you didn’t owe your country
anything they wouldn’t care.

 The answer is simple. The government makes money off of you therefore does
not want to loose you. Or anyone thinks they care about you? In the west you
see it's only money that matters and if you kill yourself you won't pay taxes.
The government basically owns you.

 Don’t escape from paying taxes. If u will die who will pay elite taxes, so it is
against law.

 Just like prostitution and other crimes which cause imbalances in the
harmony of the society and people, suicide also has same effect like for
example if a child commits suicide then there’s a very good chance that their
sibling or parents will do the same thing.

 There is some consideration that the police should be able to stop a suicide,
and the easiest way to do that is to make it a crime.
Some Critical and deep painful answers:

There is much truth in the saying ‘Suicide is illegal because it is a crime to destroy
government property’. No idea who said it first but it’s clear the state has a vested
interest in keeping as many people as possible alive in terms of wage slaves for the
job market, consumer slaves to keep the economy going and tax slaves to feed its
ever growing machine. There is undeniable economic loss when someone who is
able to work (especially the young) decides to quit for good and this needs to be
prevented at all cost. It’s the economy, stupid.
The overt justification (protection of the individual) to me is nonsense as there are
no laws (at least in most countries I know of) against gambling, unprotected sex,
smoking, drinking… If the state really cared about its citizens lives it wouldn’t allow
fastfood joints, the free sale of tobacco and alcohol to adults, casino’s where people
throw away their paychecks or even life savings, stock markets where the same
happens…
In modern, supposedly enlightened society the suicidal are considered personae non
gratae: either submit to the state voluntarily (check yourself in for brain washing
and programming in the correct ideology, with or without the assistence of drugs) or
be prepared to go to great lengths to keep the preparation and execution of the exit a
secret. Or suffer the above mentioned consequences.

Suicide is illegal because if people were allowed to die painlessly, I think a majority
of them would.
You see, the society we live in does not want anyone to die happy, nor does it want
anyone to live happy. All of our life we chase money and when we realize it, it is too
late. Our laws have made it impossible to live happy. You come to this world, you
study, study and when you have only 40% of your life left you work and work. And
you are too old when you are left with enough money. Furthermore, you need to
struggle. Struggle to rise is the motto of our society. They never say be happy. They
say try to be at the top because it is what makes our society going, constant
innovations and economy.
And then they won’t allow you to die painlessly. Nobody wants to die in pain, of
course. Our society knows this.
And yes, I to am going to tell you not to suicide because I am also selfish. Think
about the poor people. What is the better than to end your life and end your
thoughts, pain, struggles and just rest? But I tell it again, society needs to survive
and we cannot let others die. Your crime was to be born in this world.