Plato / Assisted Suicide Assisted

Plato / Assisted Suicide

Assisted suicide, or euthanasia, has been a much debated topic throughout several decades. While many in contemporary society feel one has a right to die peacefully, and thus, should be allowed assistance from physicians and others to achieve this goal, others believe suicide to be an unthinkable act, and thus, believe euthanasia should not be allowed. This paper will discuss the views of the ancient philosopher Plato on suicide and will show that these views, when examined in the context of assisted suicide, show his stance to be one of general disapproval, with exception.

In order to ascertain Plato's views on assisted suicide, one must first examine his views on suicide in general. Throughout his writings, Plato consistently views suicide slightly differently than his mentor, Socrates. In Phaedo, Plato notes Socrates' belief that suicide in any form is fundamentally wrong, since it releases the soul from the body in which the gods placed man as punishment. In this way, Plato interprets, Socrates believes that through the act of suicide, man is disobeying God as well as avoiding his rightful punishment (Plato, Phaedo, 64c-e). In addition, Plato also notes in Phaedo his own belief that to take one's own life would be to abandon one's duty to society, and would violate his or her responsibilities to the gods (Plato, Phaedo, 62s-e).

In Laws, Plato again discusses suicide in a negative connotation. He expresses again his belief that suicide in general terms is a cowardly, lazy act, and is unjust in that it removes an individual from his or her responsibilities and duties to society. He states:

They who meet their death in this way shall be buried alone, and none shall be laid by their side; they shall be buried ingloriously in the borders of the twelve portions the land, in such places as are uncultivated and nameless, and no column or inscription shall mark the place of their interment." (Laws, IX, 854; 873).

Clearly, Plato believes suicide to be a serious crime against society and the gods. His punishment for such an act condemns the individual to shame even after death, showing his firm belief in the atrocity of such actions.

However, Plato also expresses recognition for certain circumstances in which suicide would be ethically acceptable. Again in Laws, Plato notes four exceptions to the principle that suicide is shameful. First, Plato notes that when an individual's mind is immoral or corrupted, one's character cannot be salvaged (Laws, IX, 854a, 3-5). In other words, Plato believes that when an individual becomes unfit for societal morality standards, he or she is therefore not an asset to society. This rejection of morality, to Plato, clearly renders the individual beyond salvage, and as a result, places him or her already outside of their societal responsibilities. As such, the individual is not longer viable, and suicide becomes an option.

Plato's second exception for suicide involve those individuals whose death is mandated by judicial order (Laws, IX, 873c-d). By the time Laws was written, Plato's own mentor, Socrates, had been sentenced to death through the court system, and had chosen poison as his path to death. Plato, however, saw this not as a cowardly act on the part of Socrates, but as an adherence to the societal laws and morals placed on Socrates by the society he was residing in. As a result, the act was not shameful, but in fact was a fulfillment of Socrates' social responsibilities and duties. Since these factors are the boundaries used to negate the practice of suicide by Plato, his only recourse for court appointed self-death is to accept the act as a show of moral and social character.

Plato's third exception involves a suicide by an individual who has suffered a tremendous and unavoidable misfortune in life (Laws, IX, 873c-d). Plato uses the term "under the compulsion" of misfortune in his reasoning for this exception, showing his belief that those in such circumstances are not in control of their own social consciousness or mental faculties at the time of the decision to commit suicide. This implication allows Plato to excuse those in duress for their decisions, since those decisions were made outside of the rational human mind.

Finally, Plato's last exception involves a suicide as a result of shame from having committed a disgraceful or unjust act. Again, Plato uses specific terminology, such as "irremediable and intolerable shame" (Laws, IX, 873c-e). Clearly, Plato is not attempting to excuse those who are simply unwilling to alter their shameful circumstances, but is instead attempting to forgive those who are unable to change the circumstances surrounding their shame (Cooper, 17-19).

By examining these exceptions in relation to Plato's clear belief that suicide is morally and socially unacceptable, it is easy to determine that Plato places little concern for the individual's own free will, well being, or self-determination. In each exception Plato presents, the individual is justified in suicidal actions not out of a personal decision on the value of continued life, but instead in terms of his or her absent role in society, and any obligations such a role presents. Plato plainly views the moral permissibility of suicide rests not on the moral character of the individual, but rather, on his or her role in society (Carrick, 129).

In The Republic, Plato appears to contradict this belief, but on careful examination, in fact reiterates the concept. Plato notes in Chapter 3 that he believes no medical care should be provided to terminally ill or disabled individuals (406). At first glance, this appears to show Plato to believe such individuals have a right to choose their own death. However, Plato also notes in his discourse that such individuals are, in fact, a burden to themselves and to others (407). Plato does not mention the individual's desire to end suffering or his or her feelings on the values of continued life, but instead bases his views on the individual's ability to contribute to society.

Based on these viewpoints combined, Plato clearly sees suicide as a cowardly, unjust, lazy, and immoral act, done solely out of a selfish desire to "deprive(s) himself by violence of his appointed share of life" (Laws, IX, 873b-d). The only exceptions to this are those who are no longer of use to society due to illness, corruption, shame, mental anguish, or legal reasons. All others, according to Plato, should accept their place in life and continue to struggle, despite any personal feelings on the value of such a struggle.

Plato, in Laws, also makes specific reference to those taking the life of another human being. According to Plato, anyone who causes the death of another, outside of public contest, should be tried and convicted of murder, and slain (872c-e). Notice Plato does not specifically use the term murder, but instead uses the phrase "cause the death." This implies Plato is not simply referring to one individual's intentional killing of another, but also to any action which causes the death of another individual.

Taken together, Plato's belief that suicide is immoral, unjust, and selfish, and his belief that anyone found to cause the death of another should be tried and slain, clearly shows the implication that Plato would be generally against assisted suicide. In the first, third, and fourth exceptions of Plato's suicide discourse, each situation implies an inability to make a rational decision, and a sense of immoral character. The decision is not based on an individuals wish to end life, but on their ability to contribute to society, and to make rational and conscious choices in terms of that society. If an individual unable to meet these societal demands chooses to end his or her life, Plato would attribute this to his or her immoral character traits, and allow such exception. However, if an individual were to assist such a person in their actions, such an individual would presumably also be categorized by Plato as immoral, unjust, and unnecessary to society. In his second exception, Plato is only making reference to court appointed suicide, again implying an immoral character flaw resulting in an unwanted citizen. Any assistance provided in such a case would need to be represented by the court in order to fall under Plato's exceptions.