Why is physical decline considered so different from other negative events that we consider setting it apart as the only acceptable justification for suicide? I have some ideas.
Speaking for me only - I've never considered it an acceptable *justification* for suicide.
However, I do grant that in most cases, suicide is not rational. People are extremely resilient, and even in awful circumstances, tend not to want to die. Argumentum ad populum is tricky in some cases, but, if enough people desire something, it's safe to say that there's something desirable about it.
However, at end of life, some of that breaks down. "Don't kill yourself because of X; you might have a long and happy life after X gets better, or even in spite of X staying as bad, or getting worse," doesn't apply.
Of course, you might have a *happy* life, even if not a long one, with a fatal disease. And only those who refuse to accept an earlier death as an answer will look for the ways to make those last days happy, no matter how great the challenge.
In that sense, assisted suicide might be compassion, but it's the cheap compassion. It's the "Are there no prisons, no workhouses?" answer. There's *an* answer - so, don't bother me trying to find a better, more compassionate one!
no subject
Speaking for me only - I've never considered it an acceptable *justification* for suicide.
However, I do grant that in most cases, suicide is not rational. People are extremely resilient, and even in awful circumstances, tend not to want to die. Argumentum ad populum is tricky in some cases, but, if enough people desire something, it's safe to say that there's something desirable about it.
However, at end of life, some of that breaks down. "Don't kill yourself because of X; you might have a long and happy life after X gets better, or even in spite of X staying as bad, or getting worse," doesn't apply.
Of course, you might have a *happy* life, even if not a long one, with a fatal disease. And only those who refuse to accept an earlier death as an answer will look for the ways to make those last days happy, no matter how great the challenge.
In that sense, assisted suicide might be compassion, but it's the cheap compassion. It's the "Are there no prisons, no workhouses?" answer. There's *an* answer - so, don't bother me trying to find a better, more compassionate one!