To Be or Not to Be?

 

"[I]t is obvious there is nothing in the world a man has more incontestable right to than his own life and person."

--Arthur Shopenhauer on suicide.

As sad and disturbing as the thoughts it may inspire, the legality of suicide is undoubtedly one of the most important moral and civil rights issues of our time and, as we move deeper into this new century, it is only going to become more important. Farah Master's article, while subtly critical of Britain's retrograde laws regarding suicide, is hardly a polemic and treats what is a difficult topic with appropriate tenderness.