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Suicide

In my quest to attain sheer rationality and objectivity I had to overcome my own biases, prejudices and subjectivity. In doing so, I concluded that there is no rational basis for choosing life over death.

Why then, should one, when facing the meaninglessness of life, not commit suicide?

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Berman on June 14, 2011 at 1:39pm

Why would you want to overcome your own subjectivity?

If you think of life and the world in terms of mathematical logic, then there is absolutely no reason to select life over death, because there's no real room for evaluation at all. Values are subjective; if you ignore the subjective, you ignore values.

You also ignore art. If a worldview results in the loss of something like art, you've gone wrong somewhere.

Suicide is not always irrational (regardless of what the medical field has dogmatically asserted). However, in light of art, and love, and beauty, and things, I think there's more than enough of a foundation to live. It may not work for everyone, but it works for me.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Dean Griffin on June 14, 2011 at 1:45pm

One should, if one finds life meaningless. But all humans add meaning to their own lives. Meaning in the form of emotional attachment.

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Permalink Reply by Daniel B on June 14, 2011 at 2:03pm

I'm not trying to commit suicide because life is fun. Isn't that a rational basis for choosing life over death? I think so.

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Permalink Reply by Gabriel Garcia on June 14, 2011 at 11:59pm

Death is only meaningful when there is no meaning to life

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Permalink Reply by Grace Fitzpatrick on June 15, 2011 at 2:17pm

I don't think anyone can answer this question for someone else. To ask the obvious, are you currently considering suicide? Do you want help? Do you know where you can get help? If you were bleeding, you would go to a hospital for treatment. Please if you are actively considering suicide, consider many people have experienced this and found medication, counseling and treatment very helpful.

If you are not considering suicide, this is a question only you can answer for yourself. I know I have many reasons to live which have nothing to do with contemplating the meaning of life. Because I want to is a good enough answer for me.

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Permalink Reply by Will Faithless Sophia on June 15, 2011 at 3:28pm

Ultimately all motivation and meaning comes from our irrational emotions, there is no such thing as absolute objectivity if it cannot distinguish between life and death. There is a certain logic to emotion, but it is different... more like the seemingly 'illogical' quantum physics, than the 'logical' Newtonian variety.

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Permalink Reply by Matt VDB on June 19, 2011 at 4:52am

"Why then, should one, when facing the meaninglessness of life, not commit suicide?"

Life is the meaning of life.

Don't care enough about life and can't be bothered about the consequences of your actions?

Then kill yourself: no once can force you to do something you don't want to do.

Also, sheer rationality and objectivity is impossible by virtue of being human, so good luck with that one.

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Permalink Reply by Johannes S. on June 19, 2011 at 6:04am

When life becomes meaningless, suicide is not really the way to solve that problem. Finding meaning, however, is. Not from religion, but from reality. Because there always is something to live for, whether to see the awesomeness of future technology, or see whether what was described in the film Idiocracy becomes reality. (That's what's kept me from ending it all.) There is always something you want to do that you can't whilst dead.