Showing posts with label there are better ways to do than kill yourself. Show all posts
Showing posts with label there are better ways to do than kill yourself. Show all posts

Thursday, August 14, 2014

The Arrogance of Suicide


Yes, you read that correctly. I do hope your understanding coincides with mine.

Suicide is an arrogant – not to mention an utterly selfish – act. Point blank. I have no good words to offer in its defense. Although I may not judge people who commit suicide, I condemn the act per se as undignified and utterly devoid of love. Disclaimer: You have to separate the persona from his actions, otherwise you'll overlook the good deeds he accomplished during his lifetime. This is not an easy mindset to adopt, but as they say “Blame the sin, not the sinner.”

Robin Williams' apparent killing of himself has propelled me to revisit certain tenets of “existential philosophy” and discuss the ethical dimensions of suicide. I want to quote the greatest existentialist philosophers of all time such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche and Camus and share to you their respective opinions on the matter (just so you know, philosophy is merely an attempt to explore the elusive truth), but I'm afraid doing so might make me lose sight of my purpose. Also, this is not a hardline philosophy class where we have to witness the teacher spout one nosebleed-inducing jargon after another. That's not how my writing works.