TO TAKE ONE'S OWN LIFE - RIGHT OR WRONG?
TO BE? OR NOT TO BE?
"There is but one truly serious philosophical problem, and that is suicide. Judging whether life is or is not worth living amounts to answering the fundamental question of philosophy."
Albert Camus
History is replete with examples of societies where suicide is both revered and execrated. The Kamikazes in Japan and the Roman philosophers of antiquity respected highly the much considered and planned suicide, but the monotheistic religions have always held to be one of the worst things a person could conceivably do. The Catholic Church would not let suicides be buried in its cemeteries, for example. On the other hand, many would agree with Edward Abbey who claimed "there are circumstances in which suicide presents a viable option; a workable alternative; the only sensible solution." Others see it as an individual question on which others have no right to opine, that we humans can either do it or not as we choose.
But it has a ripple effect on others besides the individual to their families and the rest of society. "We can never go back. This 'thing' we deal with after suicide...it doesn't get better. It just changes with time. We will be affected profoundly by this for years to come. It is not something that can be forgotten, explains Peter Greene, "As anyone who has been close to someone that has committed suicide knows, there is no other pain like that felt after the incident."
SUICIDE AS REFRACTED BY THE ARTS:
It is the same for the young and the old? The healthy and the sick? What is your opinion about the complex topic of suicide? What are your personal opinions about the right of the individual to take his or her own life? Should it be permissible? Impermissible? Why?
EXPLAIN!
This blogsite will come due on Friday morning September 25th, 2009.
"Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
Phil Donahue
