Suicide, A Philosophical and Legal Analysis
On February 14, 2023 by Daniyal Shoukat
Preliminary
Gore Vidal, an American writer, and public Intellectual say, “Write something, even if it’s just a suicide note”. Well, I am not doing this right now. All I am doing is discussing, What is suicide? Is it morally right to commit? Why legislative minds are so lenient about it? What is the status of criminality on commission or attempt to commit suicide?
Definition
Suicide is the act or an instance of taking one’s own life voluntarily and intentionally.[1] This definition is not much comprehensive as this could not cover many of the legal propositions such as self-killing by the insane[2] and likewise. So legally speaking, according to black’s law dictionary, Suicide is the willful and voluntary act of a person who understands the physical nature of the act, and intends by it to accomplish the result of self-destruction.[3]
Emile Durkheim and Suicide
In addition to this, suicide has been defined in various senses by various scholars, jurists, and philosophers. Emile Durkheim in his theory of suicide in 1897 described four kinds of suicide. He had segregated such on the basis of the nature and circumstances of the act to commit suicide. Durkheim described egoistic suicide[4] and altruistic suicide[5] as due to a lack of social integration or interaction between members of society while anomic suicide[6] and fatalistic suicide[7] due to a lack of moral regulations. [8]
Moral and Philosophical lens
While talking about morality, there always remain two aspects it is the moral responsibility of every individual to live, in contrast, Each person should have complete autonomy in his own body or life.[9] He is right to decide what to do with his life, to live or to die. The advocates of suicide and scholars against suicide, both present their morally well-versed arguments. According to Kant, choosing to commit suicide entails considering oneself as a means to an end to escape pain, which is immoral because we should not commit suicide to satisfy ourselves.[10] Also, Hobbes argued that natural law forbids every man “to do, that which is destructive of his life, or take away the means of preserving the same”.[11] There are many counterarguments available as well, such as, Those with painful terminal illnesses have a right to voluntary euthanasia. [12]
Statics of Suicide
After all of the above philosophical discussion, let me discuss statics as well. In 2021, 48,183 Americans died by suicide. It means 132 Americans died due to suicide every day.[13] There were 6,319 deaths registered in Great Britain where the cause was recorded as suicide.[14] In Pakistan, the Age-standardized suicide rate is 9.8 for all ages (per 100 000).[15] These statics show, suicide is a serious social problem as well.
Status of Criminality
Now come to the criminality on the commission of suicide or attempt to commit suicide. Suicide is not an offense in many jurisdictions and many of the states are tending toward decriminalizing the commission of suicide and attempt to commit suicide, however, India[16] and Pakistan[17] have also decriminalized the attempt to commit suicide. In America[18] and Canada[19], attempting suicide and even suicide itself is legal.
Reason to Decriminalize Suicide and attempt Suicide
The reason behind decriminalizing the attempt to suicide is that many nations think that the Attempt to commit suicide is the last stage of frustration and it is the duty of the welfare State to provide relief to its citizens instead of criminalizing the one who is already suffering. Government shall have a duty to provide care, treatment, and rehabilitation to a person, who has severe stress and who attempted to commit suicide, to reduce the risk of recurrence of an attempt to commit suicide.
[1]Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suicide. Accessed 13 Feb. 2023.
[2]Self-killing by an insane person is not suicide. See Insurance Co. v. Moore, 34 Mich. 41; Weber v. Supreme Tent 172 N. Y. 490. 65 N. E 258, 92 Am. St. Rep. 753; Clift v. Schwabe. 3 C. B. 458; Knights Templars, etc., Indemnity Co. v. Jarman, 187 U. S. 197, 23 Sup. Ct. 108, 47 L. Ed. 139; Breasted v. Farmers’ L. & T. Co., 8 N. Y. 299, 59 Am. Dec. 482; Daniels v. Railroad Co.. 183 Mass. 393, 67 N. a 424, 62 L R. A. 751.
[3] Nimick v. Mutual Life Ins. Co., 10 Am. Law Reg. (N. S.) 101, Fed. Cas. No. 10,266.
[4] Egoistic suicide is due to desperation in the absence of social Integration.
[5] Altruistic suicide is due to higher group integration when group solidarity is of such a prime nature that individual life could be sacrificed for the purpose of the Group.
[6] Anomic suicide happens to occur due to sudden unexpected stress and frustration.
[7] Under tight regulation, when people think that there is no way to escape, they commit fatalistic Suicide.
[8] Tompson, K. , Emile Durkheim (1982), London: Tavistock publication. pp. 109-116.
[9] Andre, C., & Velasquez, M. (1987). Assisted suicide: A right or a wrong? Issues in Ethics, 1(1). Online available at http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v1n1/suicide.html
[10] Kant, I. (1996). The metaphysics of morals. M. Gregor (Ed.). Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
[11] Leviathan, 1651
[12] Singer, P. (1993). Practical ethics (2nd ed.) Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
[13] Drapeau, C. W., & McIntosh, J. L. (2023). U.S.A. suicide: 2021 Official final data. Minneapolis, MN: Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), online available at https://save.org/about-suicide/suicide-statistics.
[14] Report Online available at http://www.commonslibrary.parliament.uk
[15] World Health Organization. Suicide worldwide in 2019: global health estimates. Available from:https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240026643. [Accessed 13 February 2023]
[16] Section 115 of the Mental Healthcare Act, of 2017 has decriminalized the attempt to Suicide in India.
[17] On 26 December 2022, The Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act, 2018 made attempt to suicide no more an offense in Pakistan with the omission of section 325 of the Pakistan Penal Code, 1860.
[18] America has one of the highest suicide rates among wealthy nations.
[19] After “Carter v. Canada (Attorney General) 2001”, suicide and attempt to suicide is not an offense in Canada.
