The right to life can only be ended by one's own self, yes, but while it may be moral (or at least, in this
extreme hypothetical) that still does not make it a rational action if other means to improve one's life are still availiable.
Suicide is justified when the dust keeps falling into your hair because the bunker took it's fourth direct hit from a Soviet tank and the Reichstag is burning above you. I don't see anything in this scenario given that seems to indicate a need to end one's life, and the only problem (loneliness) can be overcome with greater socialization. Easier said than done, I know. I tire of hearing that too. But even then, medication is still an option. Therapy is still an option. Talking to the mail man is an option.
I shared Cathcon's concerns though I accept your explanation, Scott. Are there rational reasons to commit suicide? Yes. But they are exceedingly rare. You'd have to be in the same sort of situation as those trapped in the upper floors of the World Trade Center, or if the demon that was inside of little Reagan MacNeil has been transferred to you like in
The Exorcist.
Suicide is always wrong, unnatural, and cowardly. (other than perhaps for a greater purpose such as to protect state secrets after being captured by an enemy)
It can be a revolutionary act. Case in point, the monks who immolated themselves. You can call it wrong, unnatural, immoral, etc, but I've always thought that it takes a lot of balls to do it. I don't know what comes next for sure and I know that I'll never know that. Why would anyone want to take the chance?
Plus, it generally speaking isn't a very pleasant thing to do. Hanging oneself sounds horrible, especially if they get cold feet after kicking the chair out from under them. Shooting oneself can end with the victim surviving but crippled physically. Imagine trying to kill yourself and ending up as a quadriplegic for God's sake!
Frankly, though I've grappled with depression my entire life, and while I've certainly wanted to die in a few particularly bad (but also brief and few and far between) phases, I've never once actually seriously considered suicide. I couldn't then, can't now, and won't ever be able to do it. I just can't. I can't put my family through it, even if I were blaming them for the hypothetical. I can't leave the guys who work at the liquor store across the street from me who I barely know, so just imagine how I think about this subject having a disabled brother who will need me to be his guardian after my parents go. Just not an option.
I wish we would be able to have a serious discussion on the ethics of suicide, but I'm extremely paranoid of being misinterpreted. It's happened before on this subject and it almost got me sent to a hospital in the third grade, so I can't highlight that enough.
