I. Introduction
A. History Background of Suicide
Suicide, as we all know, raises many ethical debates throughout the history in the society. Most people see it as a morally wrong action but others claimed it as an ethical action. Suicide is the act of killing oneself wherein the guilty and the victim therein is the person him/herself. Looking at the history, people of the ancient city-states (especially the Greeks and Latinos) does not regard self-killing as a legal act and there is no such term as “suicide” before. Plato, in his books Phaedo and Law, discusses that suicide is perpetually wrong because for him it represent as releasing ourselves from a “guard-post” from a gods have placed us in as a form of punishment. Another reason is that for him, is it an unrespectable act except when one’s mind is morally corrupted, done by judicial order, done by inevitable misfortune, and result of unjust actions. For him, suicide is an act of cowardice. Aristotle’s explanation of suicide is that if someone does not …show more content…
freedom from mortal sin by strenuous resistance to temptation;
2. avoidance of deliberate venial sins by assiduous practice of virtue;
3. union with God through the frequent recurrence of acts of love
By the stages of charity given by Aquinas, one can see that committing suicide is unlawful. Murder or killing is a mortal sin and is not a venial sin, and one is said to be not resisted the temptation if he/she commits suicide. This kind of actions cuts of the relationship between the people committed it and to the Divine Providence, the person’s union with God. Thus, the action of committing suicide violates the three principal stages of charity, making it unlawful for Aquinas. Second reason or argument stated by Aquinas is that it does injury to the common good. He states that:
“…every part, as such, belongs to the whole. Now every man is part of the community, and so, as such, he belongs to the community. Hence by killing himself he injures the
A. History Background of Suicide
Suicide, as we all know, raises many ethical debates throughout the history in the society. Most people see it as a morally wrong action but others claimed it as an ethical action. Suicide is the act of killing oneself wherein the guilty and the victim therein is the person him/herself. Looking at the history, people of the ancient city-states (especially the Greeks and Latinos) does not regard self-killing as a legal act and there is no such term as “suicide” before. Plato, in his books Phaedo and Law, discusses that suicide is perpetually wrong because for him it represent as releasing ourselves from a “guard-post” from a gods have placed us in as a form of punishment. Another reason is that for him, is it an unrespectable act except when one’s mind is morally corrupted, done by judicial order, done by inevitable misfortune, and result of unjust actions. For him, suicide is an act of cowardice. Aristotle’s explanation of suicide is that if someone does not …show more content…
freedom from mortal sin by strenuous resistance to temptation;
2. avoidance of deliberate venial sins by assiduous practice of virtue;
3. union with God through the frequent recurrence of acts of love
By the stages of charity given by Aquinas, one can see that committing suicide is unlawful. Murder or killing is a mortal sin and is not a venial sin, and one is said to be not resisted the temptation if he/she commits suicide. This kind of actions cuts of the relationship between the people committed it and to the Divine Providence, the person’s union with God. Thus, the action of committing suicide violates the three principal stages of charity, making it unlawful for Aquinas. Second reason or argument stated by Aquinas is that it does injury to the common good. He states that:
“…every part, as such, belongs to the whole. Now every man is part of the community, and so, as such, he belongs to the community. Hence by killing himself he injures the