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SELF- KILLING (Suicide)

Charmaine S. Principe, B.S.N., R.N.

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To have a broader knowledge regarding suicide; itsdefinition, causes and methods

To be able to know the different perceptions about

suicide

To be able to determine the pros and cons of suicide

To be able to identify the ethical applications of

suicide

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Act of deliberately taking one's own life voluntarily

and intentionally.

Suicidal behavior

Is any deliberate action with potentially life-

threatening consequences, such as taking a drug

overdose or deliberately crashing a car.

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can accompany many emotional disturbances, including

depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia

More than 90% of all suicides are related to a mood disorderor other psychiatric illness

Overwhelming views of Person:

(1) social isolation,

(2) death of a loved one,

(3) emotional trauma,

(4) serious physical illness,

(5) unemployment or financial problems,

(6) guilty feelings,

(7) or dependence on alcohol or other drug

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a. Nonviolent

b. Violent

Males violent methods suicide attempts by males are more

likely to be completed

FIREARM

During 2002-2006, the greatest percentageof suicides am

ongmales occurred by firearms (57.7%) while the greatest

percentage of suicides among females occurred by poisoning(38.8%).

(Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National

Suicide Statistics at a Glance)

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Socrates

an individual was a property of the gods, so

that self- killing would bring about their anger

Plato cited three other exceptions to the prohibition of

suicide:

A. Any shame of extreme distress and impoverishment

B. Affliction by any extraordinary sorrow

C. Inevitable turn of fortune

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Aristotle

suicide is an act of cowardice and offense

against the state

Lucius Seneca (Roman stoic philosopher)

argued eloquently in favor of suicide asan escape from suffering and from the decay

of old age

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Judas Iscariot

preferred to commit suicide by hanginghimself rather than to be alive forever

haunted by his ignominious act of betrayal and

treachery against the Lord Jesus

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Psalm 55:12-14

"For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;

Then I could bear it. Nor is it one who hates

me who has exalted himself against me;Then I could hide from him. But it was you,

a man my equal, my companion and my

acquaintance. We took sweet counseltogether, and walked to the house of God in

the throng."

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Suicide is the direct, willful destruction of onesown life.

Direct killing of oneself

Willfuldeliberate, voluntary, and

intentional

Destructive

viol

ent, brutal

or very harsh

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EUTHANASIA vs. SUICIDE

Do so for medical reasons Destructive and violent

termination of ones life

Presupposes incurable

ailment/ terminal condition

Presupposes ones healthy

physical condition

Easy, painless, quiet

acceleration of imminent or

certain death, in order to

rid oneself of prolonged

suffering

Sudden interruption or

destruction of the life

process

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Personal Reasons

1. Misfortune and frustration in love or marriage

2. Parental indifference or apathy towards ones

boyfriend or girlfriend

3. In law problems

4. Failure in an examination

5. Loss of honor and integrity6. Nervous breakdown due toones inability to cope

with lifes problems

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Financial Reasons

1. Poverty and impoverishment2. Great loss of money or collapse in business

venture

Social and Political Reasons

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In Jewish tradition, we find the earliest rejection

of suicide in the teachings of Flavius Josephus, a

famo

us sol

dier, statesman and histo

rianw

ho

was the commander of a defeated army.

A

gainst his sol

diersw

ishes to

kill

themsel

vesand avoid surrender in shame.

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Josephus argued:

Suicide is a crime which is contrary to the

common nature of all animals

The soul is a depositum (deposited for

safekeeping) received from God, so that to kill

oneself is contrary to the divine will, and hence

a wicked act

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St. Augustine contended:

Suicide is itself greater sin than any and all sins that

could be allegedly avoided by committing it

Self- murder is against the fifth commandment (Thou

shall not kill)

Suicide deprives one of the opportunity to repent

It is an ignoble act through which one attempts to

escape the ills of life

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St. Thomas Aquinas gave a threefoldargument:

Suicide is against the naturallaw

Being a member of a society, a person who kills

himself will deprive the community of his activity

Suicide is a usurpation of Gods function

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Michel de Montaigne, a French essayist andskeptical philosopher was the first to explicitly

question the views of Augustine and Aquinas

He argued:

Ones fear of suffering that is worse thandeath itself is the most excusable incitement to

self- killing.

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John Donne, a British clergyman and a religiouswriter, criticized the Christian prohibition of

suicide as self- serving for capitalists and

Christian authorities who exploit and oppresstheir laborers.

His view:

Suicide is a means of liberating oneself from

explo

itation and

oppressi

on.

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David Hume, a Scottish philosopher.

Defendedsuicide:

The removal of misery makes suicide morally

justifiable and permissible

Moral duty is reciprocal

There is no such thing as order designed by

God

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Principle of Stewardship considers suicide as

self- murder.

An individual has no right to murder himself as

he has no right to murder someone else.

Only an individual who has dominion overa thing

has the right to destroy it.

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The greatest good/happiness for the greatest

number

An individual may deliberately terminate his

own life if and when suffering becomes too

much to bear.

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In the context of categorical imperatives not usingourselves only as a means but always as an end, maybe taken as a rejection or prohibition of suicide.

Principle of Autonomy, a rational beings autonomyand self- regulating will to support and justify theirargument that an individual not only has a duty to

preserve his life, but also has to die with dignity ifand when the situation warrants such a moral

decision.

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