Rationality of suicide (part 2)
November 28th 2009 01:29
* What makes any problem a problem? You need two beliefs (or commitments, impulses) in apparent contradiction.
But given that people believe all sorts of things, it's very possible that what troubles you won't trouble me, and vice versa. I might not care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and you mightn't care whether you should kill yourself.
Not everyone will feel the force of a problem, will hesitate over it. Some people will say, "Of course you should do x", whilst others will say, "Of course you shouldn't".
* In moral contexts, the mere fact that something presents itself as a problem should raise suspicion; and you should ask yourself: Others have clarity, so why is this an issue for me? Why don't I know the answer? Why am I uncertain? What beliefs make me uncertain?
(And: What makes other people so sure?)
A solution to your problem? -- You should consider the possibility that there isn't one.
* Not every question has a rational answer. Is it rational to like or dislike bread?
* ... being given a maths problem that goes: "A train is moving at 200km/hour. How soon will it reach its destination?" -- But if you're not told the distance, if you don't have all parameters, then there's no meat for rationality.
* You know for a fact that the rest of your life will be filled with awful pain, that there's nothing joyful left for you: you'll never feel happy again, you'll never satisfy another desire, etc. "In this scenario, is it rational to kill yourself, or not to kill yourself?" -- Such a question is velocity without distance.
* The choice of moral system is a step into the unknown; nothing certain can guide you. There are no givens, or insufficient givens.
Decisions about end of life frequently are choices about system -- for those for whom a problem is presented. The degree of hesitation is some indication that the question is not only undecided but also undecidable.
Such decisions create value, and have wide ripples -- you affirm or deny fundamental beliefs in the course of choosing -- what life means, what the good life is, how the world works, what's important to you...
But given that people believe all sorts of things, it's very possible that what troubles you won't trouble me, and vice versa. I might not care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, and you mightn't care whether you should kill yourself.
Not everyone will feel the force of a problem, will hesitate over it. Some people will say, "Of course you should do x", whilst others will say, "Of course you shouldn't".
* In moral contexts, the mere fact that something presents itself as a problem should raise suspicion; and you should ask yourself: Others have clarity, so why is this an issue for me? Why don't I know the answer? Why am I uncertain? What beliefs make me uncertain?
(And: What makes other people so sure?)
A solution to your problem? -- You should consider the possibility that there isn't one.
* Not every question has a rational answer. Is it rational to like or dislike bread?
* ... being given a maths problem that goes: "A train is moving at 200km/hour. How soon will it reach its destination?" -- But if you're not told the distance, if you don't have all parameters, then there's no meat for rationality.
* You know for a fact that the rest of your life will be filled with awful pain, that there's nothing joyful left for you: you'll never feel happy again, you'll never satisfy another desire, etc. "In this scenario, is it rational to kill yourself, or not to kill yourself?" -- Such a question is velocity without distance.
* The choice of moral system is a step into the unknown; nothing certain can guide you. There are no givens, or insufficient givens.
Decisions about end of life frequently are choices about system -- for those for whom a problem is presented. The degree of hesitation is some indication that the question is not only undecided but also undecidable.
Such decisions create value, and have wide ripples -- you affirm or deny fundamental beliefs in the course of choosing -- what life means, what the good life is, how the world works, what's important to you...
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