Ted Harris

ERH 207w-02

Dr. Richter

11/3/2020

HR: works cited

Can Suicide ever be justified?

Suicide is one of the most terrible sins one can commit. From a purely Christian

perspective, it is considered by many denominations to be a grievous sin. Most of David Hume’s

arguments fall under his belief in soft determinism. Hume believes that human behavior is

controlled and guided by God, but there is a choice in terms of the capacity of a person to act

based on their nature. Personally, libertarianism makes more sense. Libertarianism is the belief

that humans have a choice regardless of nature or nurture. This shift in view is what makes

Hume’s arguments not work out entirely. The impact of suicide can affect friends, families, and

even communities. When one considers suicide as an option, they are in an unclear state of mind

and should not take action based on their feelings. David Hume has made objections claiming the

act of suicide does not necessarily fall into the category of harm against God, society, and self.

Hume claims that suicide does not conflict with our duty to God. Basically, it’s saying

that if God didn’t want people to commit suicide, then he wouldn’t have let them be able to do so

in the first place. Given that old school Christian thought judges suicide as evil, this issue can be

looked at through the lens of the problem of evil. Basically, the problem of evil claims that God

cannot be all good, all-powerful, or all-knowing if evil is allowed to persist. The answer that
makes the most sense would be that humans are given free will. If the perspective is changed to a

more libertarian view, decisions can be made from the human rather than something that is

planned. The orthodox church believes that suicide is a separation from God and faith. It

wouldn’t make sense if God wanted people to separate from him. Therefore, it’s more rational to

assume there is free will and decision making abilities in humans that can affect their destinies.

God makes it clear that murdering and rape is a sin yet people do it anyway, so it’s irrational to

assume that just because we are capable of acting in a way does not necessarily mean it’s good.

Therefore, my answer would be because humans have the choice to do so they should choose the

path that would result in the most good being spread. The same answer is applied to suicide. Bad

decisions are made that cause people to go down a route that ends in their own self-murder.

Overall, if libertarianism is true then suicide is most definitely against the will of God.

Under certain circumstances, Hume believes that suicide is beneficial for society. Hume

supposes that if a person is no longer able to do good for society, is a burden to society, or is

getting in the way of someone else being more useful for society, then it is not only ok but in fact

praiseworthy for them to commit suicide. Supposing Hume is talking about Euthanasia for

patients in hospice, I would actually agree on this point. If there is a patient in hospice, they are

there because death is a closer inevitability than it is for most. Ensuring a passage to the afterlife

in the most painless way possible is the most moral position because there is less suffering

involved. When Hume talks about criminals committing suicide for the greater good, I would

have to disagree. Granted, some deserve the death penalty because they are the vilest types of

people, but there’s no reason to believe those people would take their own lives by choice. Those

kinds of people would rarely consider suicide because they are sick and twisted. Those that do

consider suicide as a result of their actions may in fact have the potential to be saved. Hitler
killed himself because he knew he thought he would have been executed at the Nuremburg trials,

but that’s not set in stone. If Hitler didn’t kill himself and was captured and imprisoned, but

never killed there’s no way we could know he wouldn’t have a change of mind. It can be said

that considering suicide is a recognition of wrongdoing. A person can feel remorse for their

actions and may believe that the best solution is to create good by getting rid of themselves,

which they realize is bad. People are never truly black and white. Just because someone makes a

mistake, doesn’t mean they can never redeem themselves. As much as people are capable of evil,

they are just as capable of good. For every Hitler, there’s a Mother Teressa. It’s possible to argue

that saving one from suicide no matter how deplorable they seem may serve as a long term good

for society. Just like how a junkie can be rehabilitated and drop their addiction, criminals can be

rehabilitated and become good. In doing so, they are more capable of helping others to do the

same. This can be a net positive to society. Once again, this argument stems from libertarianism

in that becoming a criminal is a decision you make rather than destiny for some people.

Decisions can be made to change the future, but determinism would have the future set

regardless of choice.

Hume’s final claim is that suicide is not doing great harm against self. Though Hume does

not actually mean this, on a physical level this is factually incorrect. Every method of suicide is

meant to damage some part of the body, so saying it’s not harmful physically is wrong. Hume

instead says that it is ethical to do so if you are already living in constant pain and misery. As

was stated before, if there is nothing that can be done, then it is best to let nature take its course

as painlessly as possible. With that being said, if there is something to be done about the state of

circumstances, then it should be done to better one’s life. If the circumstances spell misfortune, it

doesn’t mean that it’s permanent. Just because you lose all of your wealth, doesn’t mean it’s
impossible to gain it back. Rather than giving up and committing suicide, it would be a lot more

rational to try and better the situation for yourself. Hume writes that suicide can be an example

set that “…would preserve to everyone his chance for happiness in life, and effectively free him

from all risk of misery” (Hume). Misery is an inevitability to life. Rain will pour and you will get

wet and cold, but that doesn’t mean there’s no chance to get dry and warm. Even if the chance of

something happening to turn the tide of fortune is very minuscule, it’s seldom zero. The

probability of something bad happening may be significant, but to ignore the probability of

something good happening is ridiculous and irrational because it’s zoning in on a narrow and

negative point of view. This puts you in an unnatural state of mind that would cause you to make

decisions that would be considered bad. Terminal illness and fatal wounds are a different matter

altogether, since at that point the physical body is leading to the inevitable shut down. If it’s a

matter of killing oneself over spiritual or mental weakness, then it’s not justified at all because

there is a possibility of recovery. Overall, Hume’s argument about suicide not causing harm to

self to the extent to which he claims is not a strong argument.

Hume does make good cases in what he says. I agree with him on his views that suicide as

a stigma arose mainly from superstition in Roman, French, and European civilizations. That is

not to say that there aren’t rational reasons as to why suicide is not justified. Hume making

claims about suicide not being against God’s will is against the beliefs of modern orthodox

thought. Hume’s claims about suicide not being against society don’t take into account the

potential for a net good if suicide is avoided. Finally, Hume’s claim about suicide not being

against the self is wrong physically as well as mentally. Granted determinism is what drives

Hume’s arguments to work, but the slight change in perspective can change the context of the

arguments.
Works Cited:

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. “Logical Problem of Evil.” Internet Encyclopedia of

Philosophy, iep.utm.edu/evil-log/.

“Suicide.” Greek Orthodox Church of Our Saviour, www.gocoos.org/parish-information/church-

positions/suicide/.

Hume, David. “Suicide” Early Modern Texts,

www.earlymoderntexts.com/assets/pdfs/hume1757essay3.pdf.