morality, death-afterlifeAs an atheist, how do you address the right to choose to die? There are frequently religious injunctions against euthenasia, and other moral issues that arise from similar concepts like suicide.
What specific difficulties do atheists face with end of life issues that would not arise among theists? From that perspective, what limits do you think should be placed on it? Do you see any situations in which you feel you could decide for someone else?
We have the absolute right to do whatever we want to our bodies, even if it is detrimental, as long as it doesn’t harm anyone else in the process. Our bodies do not belong to anyone but us, and certainly not to an entity for which there is no evidence of existence.
That right also extends to giving another the right to decide what happens to us if we are unable to make decisions.
I think we are free to decide as to what to do with our own lives, notwithstanding none asked whether you want to be born. However there should be strict limits on it, because anyone could maliciously persuade one to commit a suicide; though both situations are mutually exclusive.
I’m also sure that euthanasia is a humane phenomenon.
The right to die is a complicated issue because we do not exist in isolation. For example, a parent suffering from depression may wish to die, but unless they are so emotionally crippled that they can no longer function as a caregiver, I think there’s a reasonable argument to be made that the parent’s responsibility to their child(ren) trumps their right to decide what to do to oneself. This, of course, is only the most extreme example: people generally have friends, co-workers, etc., with whom they have a variety of relationships of varying depths, and who will be significantly affected if the person dies. (Even more complicated: do we need to protect a person’s future self from their present self, if the present self is considering suicide?)
I think as an atheist, one presumably has to reject the sacred nature of human life and instead say that human life very highly valued by us under normal circumstances. In exceptional circumstances of extreme pain or other negatives, other considerations may win (the most obvious being that said person is in so much incurable distress for whatever reason that this outweighs the default positive value that we apply to a person’s existence).
So the extreme of “anyone has the right to die whenever they want; it’s totally up to them” is too far because it fails to account for the impact on others; but “no-one has the right to die under any circumstances” is way too far in the other direction, because it negates the possibility of life being worse than death. Since people know their own situation best, there’s a good case for giving fairly wide leeway to the individual in question.
What if “It will get better”? Everybody has problems throughout their lives which would people wish they were dead and some people have problems big enough (or are being bullied) that they are actually trying to end their life with big impacts to relatives and friends. The “right to do as we please” with our bodies is a very difficult one since it really could get better after certain situations and a person’s life and death decision really does get influenced by mood-swings and temporary situations. I believe that it should be easier to talk about the desire to end your life so people can get help and counseling. The important thing to think about it that while your problems are gone, it will create a lot of problems and pain for loved ones and friends.
On the issue of euthanasia for terminally ill patients I have always supported their right to end their suffering if nothing can be done any more.
If the pain is untreatable, if the family of the person who is dying is suffering badly from the experience, if it is opinion of the experts, of the time, say nothing more can be done and a vote by the people is in favour of end of life rights the yes it is society’s obligation to allow the end of life option to be made.
I believe that one has the right to choose what to do with own body, as long as it is responsible and doesn’t hurt others.
Euthanasia can be in some cases the right and ethical thing to do to end the suffering of a person who is in a mortal condition. Of course it needs regulations and at least a panel of experts to decide if to allow such action, based on scientific and medical analysis.
About suicide, it’s slightly different, because people can be in a condition in which they don’t reason due to overwhelming emotional pressure that overpowers the advanced cognitive abilities. In principle, since each can choose what to do with himself, there’s nothing “wrong” with it, but it will often hurt friends, family, etc., and it should be avoided at all cost if you care about those who care about you.
Personally, I would always try to convince someone that this is not the way and you can never know what tomorrow brings, but eventually whether we want it or not, some people will do it anyhow, and there isn’t much we can do about it if someone is set on it. Whether the person succeeds or not, it’s another issue, and hopefully they’ll fail and rethink it all, as many do.
But you one can also ask himself: if you are trying to stop someone (who is in great suffering) from committing a suicide, are you really ready to take responsibility for the continuation of that suffering and help the person get out of it?
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