Moral clarity from Ann Althouse this morning.
Yeah, there's the ancient problem of wanting to be liked, which is really only a problem if you want it too much and want it above other, better goals. It's perfectly idiotic to think that the solution to the excessive desire to be liked is to be unlikeable.And this,
Now, personally, as you may know from previous discussions on this blog, I think suicide is murder. Morally, it should be recognized as the deliberate killing of a human being. But many people withhold moral judgment and express only sadness and sympathy.Exempting people who kill themselves as result of mental illness, suicides are the most-bogglingly selfish people on the planet.
I didn't know that people without some form of mental illness--even if only transitory--killed themselves. I don't think I can take what Ann Althouse says seriously anymore. If she has a backstory about this she should share it, or not say anything. I'm sure her words brought the people whose love ones committed suicide great comfort. Jeez.
ReplyDeleteIt's popular nowadays to imagine that all suicides suffer from mental illness. Some do, of course, but there is no evidence to suggest all or even the majority do.
DeleteAnd there's no evidence to suggest that all or even the majority do not suffer from mental illness either. Once the deed is done it isn't possible to get a diagnosis. So, I wonder what the reasoning in their rational minds might be then for taking their own lives, in other words is taking one's own life ever a rational decision?
ReplyDelete