Under what circumstances do you feel that suicide is a moral good and/or ethical? What are the factors that determine which cases qualify?
from
https://www.mdis.edu.sg/blog/four-types-of-suicides/According to Emile Durkheim, the term suicide is applied to all cases of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act of the victim, which he/she knows will produce this result (Pickering & Walford, 2011). Durkheim identifies four different types of suicide which are egoistic suicide, altruistic suicide, anomic suicide and fatalistic suicide.
Egoistic suicide is seen as stemming from the absence of social integration. It is committed by individuals who are social outcast and see themselves as being alone or an outsider. These individuals are unable to find their own place in society and have problems adjusting to groups. They received little and no social care. Suicide is seen as a solution for them to free themselves from loneliness or excessive individuation.
Altruistic suicide occurs when social group involvement is too high. Individuals are so well integrated into the group that they are willing to sacrifice their own life in order to fulfil some obligation for the group. Individuals kill themselves for the collective benefit of the group or for the cause that the group believes in.
Anomic suicide is caused by the lack of social regulation and it occurs during high levels of stress and frustration. Anomic suicide stems from sudden and unexpected changes in situations. For example, when individuals suffer extreme financial loss, the disappointment and stress that individuals face may drive them towards committing suicide as a means of escape.
Fatalistic suicide occurs when individuals are kept under tight regulation. These individuals are placed under extreme rules or high expectations are set upon them, which removes a person’s sense of self or individuality. Slavery and persecution are examples of fatalistic suicide where individuals may feel that they are destined by fate to be in such conditions and choose suicide as the only means of escaping such conditions.
I expect there are substantial overlaps, and the categories are not as cut and dry as they might initially seem.
Many people upon first consideration jump immediately to physician assisted suicide as being the only ethical type and fail to consider alternatives besides an amalgam of egoistic and anomic.
some cases to consider:
a soldier who jumps on a grenade
a terminal illness patient
a suicide bomber
a protest self-immolator
a Foxconn worker
a stressed student
a stressed entertainer
a person engaging in ritual self-sacrifice
a person who is jeopardizing the survival of a group
a person with an outstanding warrant likely to result in extended incarceration
a person with a 10 year prison sentence
a person with a 20 year prison sentence
a person with a 70 year prison sentence
a person with a life prison sentence
a person with a death sentence
a person living in New Jersey
a Uyghur in a Chinese concentration camp
a financially ruined businessman
a financially ruined farmer
a homeless person on the streets
