FACULTY OF SCIENCE

DEPARTMENT OF LIFE AND HEALTH SCIENCES

NURSING PROGRAM

COURSE TITLE COURSE CODE: Nursing Ethics/ NURS-121

INSTRUCTOR NAME: Ms. Savoula Ghobrial

STUDENT NAME: Amal Alzubi

Introduction
1. What is Suicide?
”Suicide” is difficult to define. This is because it is a value-laden term. Whenever we apply the label of “suicide” to an individual’s death, we typically presuppose a number of significant moral issues. To see the problem, let’s posit a definition:
Suicide: Is the intentional and voluntary taking of one’s own life.
At first glance, this is a simple and appealing definition. It seems to capture the core phenomenon of self-killing pretty succinctly. There are, however, all sorts of cases that would test the limits of this definition. Consider the “voluntariness” requirement. Many people may take their lives under conditions of coercion, duress or necessity. Does that mean they don’t commit suicide?

Take the example of Hitler. He killed himself in order to avoid the humiliation of execution. Was his decision voluntary? What of the Japanese Samurai, who had a form of ritual self-killing (known asseppuka or hari-kari) that they used to “die with honor” rather than fall into the hands of their enemies? Or the soldier who throws himself on a grenade in order to save his comrades? I suspect we would say that each of these counts as an example of “suicide”, but depending on how we understand the voluntariness condition; they may not meet the conditions set down in our definition.

Harder issues arise when we consider the relationship between responsibility and suicide. Hill uses the example of the Christian martyrs and Socrates to illustrate this point. The early Christian martyrs were given the option of renouncing their Christianity or being fed to the lions. In choosing the latter, they chose their own death, but we