If I don't like my life and want to die I think that euthanasia would be good for me (this is hypothetical).  However, family members and friends often consider the act of suicide selfish to them.

But isn't it also selfish of the family and friends to not allow him the right to die?  I know that they love him, but that love has crossed into selfishness.  They would rather have him live a life of misery than enjoy a peaceful, painless death.

Discuss.

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Death is the ultimate experience. The last thing to die is hope.

I agree. Society is quite unfair for making people feel like dying is the wrong thing to do. Whether it be someone who has immense depression/stress issues, or someone with a brain tumor, there is no reason why someone should be forced to live a horrible life just because everyone around them doesnt want to let go.

If someone is ready to die, let them.

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It depends. I think everyone has the right to decide if their life is worth living or not, but it can still be selfish, even if they have the right to kill them self. Like say you're a mother with kids who depend on you and a husband who would be crushed if you died. In that case, yes it is selfish to commit suicide.

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I don't have a husband, but I understand what you mean.  I won't do it because as you said, I do have kids that depend on me so thoughts of suicide are not going to develop in my mind until at least middle-age.

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Death is the ultimate experience. The last thing to die is hope.

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the person attempting suicide because he's in so much pain and can't bear it is.

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Why should he be forced to live with pain for a long time when he could just end it all.  One's happiness is the most important thing to a person.  I think the family and friends are the selfish ones.

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Death is the ultimate experience. The last thing to die is hope.

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Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 2:00 pm on July 11, 2008

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the person attempting suicide because he's in so much pain and can't bear it is.

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Why should he be forced to live with pain for a long time when he could just end it all. One's happiness is the most important thing to a person. I think the family and friends are the selfish ones.

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Why are they selfish when they know full well that the person's misery is only temporary? How are they any more selfish than the person who doesn't care if his family and friends are happy, only that he doesn't feel very good right now?

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Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

How can you be sure that the pain will end when a person dies ?!
How can you be sure you don't have to endure a greater pain after the death than the one felt while alive ?
There is absolutely no evidence that the pain  is going to disappear  after ending this life .
Is much smarter to try to find a solution to the problem than to suicide to escape from it with no guarantee that may really go away .

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Why are they selfish when they know full well that the person's misery is only temporary?

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Nobody can judge someone elses happiness.

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faut souffrir pour etre belle
♥ [27/12/08]
be the change you wish to see in the world

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Quote: from exceedinglyrare at 11:17 pm on July 11, 2008

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 Why are they selfish when they know full well that the person's misery is only temporary?

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Nobody can judge someone elses happiness.

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No, but you can know that, just like happiness, misery is an emotion that changes with time and circumstance. Depending on the reasons for a person's misery, I'd say that loved ones could pretty accurately gauge whether or not this person's misery would be temporary.

Regardless, suicide is still the more selfish action, by definition. The loved ones are worrying about the suicide victim's happiness as well as their own, while the suicide victim is only worrying about his own happiness.

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Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

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I disagree. I mean, you have no right to discriminate against a person for taking their own life. They have the free will to do that, and why should anyone else have the right to take that freedom away?

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...what does that have to do with selfishness? It's still more selfish to take your own life than it is to not want someone to take their own life, by definition.

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Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

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But it's also selfish to want someone to live in misery to make you happy.

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Except we're not talking about that. We're talking about the fact that it's more selfish to not care what anyone else thinks because you feel bad at that moment than to say, "I know it's difficult now, but I also know it will get better and that you will be much more fulfilled if you continue to live."

How is the latter selfish? Do you see anything in there about "Don't kill yourself because then I'll be sad"?

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Let yourself be enchanted,
You just might break through
To ever ever after

I don't believe people have a right to stop people from taking their own life. End of.

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faut souffrir pour etre belle
♥ [27/12/08]
be the change you wish to see in the world