do you support a universal right to suicide?

[Boston Bread]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Self-harm is restricted in a lot of ways, for example hard drugs. A libertarian would oppose such restrictions in general but some I'm okay with. For suicide I don't see such a ban as something to be enforced, just symbolically saying that this is wrong.

[Antonio the Sixth]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Self-harm is restricted in a lot of ways, for example hard drugs. A libertarian would oppose such restrictions in general but some I'm okay with. For suicide I don't see such a ban as something to be enforced, just symbolically saying that this is wrong.

Suicide is not necessarily harmful though. In many situations people might consider death an improvement over their present conditions.

[windjammer]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

[Oak Hills]

I think having a law on the books saying, "You aren't allowed to commit suicide," is silly, but as for Tweed's proposal, absolutely not.

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Individual autonomy is overrated.

[Murica!]

I think having a law on the books saying, "You aren't allowed to commit suicide," is silly, but as for Tweed's proposal, absolutely not.

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Individual autonomy is overrated.

I disagree with both of you.

[Deus Naturae]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Individual autonomy is overrated.

So your answer to that question is "no"?

[Oak Hills]

It should be illegal, but those caught attempting it would get rehabilitation rather than punishment.

Why? Do people not own their bodies?

Individual autonomy is overrated.

So your answer to that question is "no"?

I mostly said that because I'm annoyed by the arguments constantly made by many people about "freedom" or "controlling your own body."  So, I guess I'm not really saying that people shouldn't own their own bodies, but I will go on the record as saying that I think just because something is rightfully yours doesn't mean you shouldn't be restricted from doing things with it just because it doesn't directly harm others.  Suicide is one thing that indirectly harms others through emotional pain or worse. 

I guess I've been wanting to say something like that for a long time because I get very annoyed by people arguing against drug prohibition by saying, "It's my body!  I can put whatever I want into it!"  If anti-drug laws actually cut off people's access to harmful drugs, I would be all for them.  Personally, I actually do support ending prohibition of most drugs, simply because the lack of regulation in a black market makes the drugs more dangerous without cutting off access to them, and that in my view outweighs the reduction in the use the drugs as a result of the laws.

Overall, I feel that laws should be made or not made based on the good of the society or the community rather than based on protecting the rights of individuals.  While I feel we should make an effort to protect individual rights, I think they are often in conflict with the public good, and that many people, especially Americans, simply put too much emphasis on individual rights.  I also believe that people should think more of the common good when they act than they often do, but I guess that's a topic for another thread.

Sorry if this post was too long. 

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Live and let die.

[Deus Naturae]

I mostly said that because I'm annoyed by the arguments constantly made by many people about "freedom" or "controlling your own body."  So, I guess I'm not really saying that people shouldn't own their own bodies, but I will go on the record as saying that I think just because something is rightfully yours doesn't mean you shouldn't be restricted from doing things with it just because it doesn't directly harm others.  Suicide is one thing that indirectly harms others through emotional pain or worse. 

I agree that suicide can be selfish and cause emotional pain to others. But, the government shouldn't be regulating people's actions in order to prevent others from experiencing emotional pain. I can't think of a single example of a law that does that.

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"Society" is not an entity in itself, it's simply the sum total of individuals and institutions. There is no "common good", just the good of different groups and sets of individuals and institutions. By restricting individual rights to benefit the "common good", you aren't benefitting "society", you're just benefitting some individuals and/or institutions at the expense of a smaller number of individuals and institutions.