A Man’s Right to Die: Humanists View of Suicide Ethics

Humanists in major contrast to religious people see death and dying from a completely different stand point. Pretty much every religion in the world offers a promise of an afterlife whether it be eternity in heaven or reincarnation. Humanists however regard promises of life after death as illusory and harmful, especially when one must live by certain rules to ensure that life after death. Though they do not deny any man’s right to believe in an afterlife, they see believing in promises of eternal salvation or eternal damnation as hindering mans ability to focus on present concerns, achieve self-actualization, and bettering the future of the earth itself. Given the fact that many humanists see believing in an after-life as counterproductive, the concern of a man’s right to suicide whether by euthanasia and assisted suicide has created much conflict between humanism and the religious sphere. What reasons do humanists have to believe that it is a humane value to let a person end his or her own life when they choose?
As part of an open democratic society in which every individual has the right to civil liberties, many Humanists believe that just as a man has a right to live he has a right to die. Chetwynd (2004) makes an interesting comparison about regarding human life the same way one would regard owning property. Not to imply that human life is like a piece of property, but many people do see their lives as their own and feel that they should have full control over how they want to live. Many Humanists would argue that to deprive an individual’s right to do what he or she wants with his or her life would go against a fully humanist democratic society. Also in the article Chetwynd discusses the case of a 42 year old woman living with a motor neuron disease, which brings up many cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide being centered on individuals living with chronically painful terminal illnesses. Humanists believe that every individual has a right to life, happiness, advancement, and freedom. If an individual’s ability to live happily and advance is hindered by illness a humanist might see this individual as fully having the right to decide whether they want to live on. And to deprive their right to make such a choice would be to deprive them of their freedom.
Another article by Colby (2009) discusses the complexity of the ethics behind an individual’s right to die and how this is largely dictated by society. Society passes laws that the majority of the people agree on. However Colby argues that the law should not have the ability to know what is right at the end of a person’s life. That society trying to tell someone what is the right choice at the end of his or her life is unconstitutional. The article also points that citizen polls reveal the majority in American society want to have access to assistance in dying. Whether anyone in the general American public can agree as to whether right to suicide is ethical or unethical, can they agree that it is unconstitutional from that individual’s perspective?
In the United States many cases of assisted suicide or individuals fighting for the right to assisted suicide have been brought to court. A few cases made it all the way to the Supreme Court but were quickly overruled (Colby, 2009). In the highly religious American political sphere, assisted suicide is viewed as a criminal act that devalues the sacredness of human life. This view of course is a reflection of Christian domination in American politics. Cases of euthanasia and assisted suicide have created conflict in the political sphere especially when supporters have fought just to bring to the Supreme Court. However the question still stands about the ethics of a person’s right to suicide especially when living with a terminal illness. Humanists have given fairly valid reasons for supporting an mans right to die, however whether freedom of that right is granted will depend on how the majority of society views it.


References
Chetwynd, S. B. (2004) Right to life right to die and assisted suicide. Journal of Applied
Philosophy, 21(2), 173-182. Retrieved November 25, 2009 from Religion and
Philosophy database.
Colby, B. (2009). Let’s talk about dying. The Humanist, 4-6. Retrieved November 25, 2009 from
Religion and Philosophy database.