Our project takes up an underappreciated philosophical debate: the ethics of suicide. To do this, we explore the rise of accessibility of medical assistance in death (MAID). Understanding when suicide is morally permissible is necessary to answer whether the expansion of MAID is an ethical practice. We will investigate this question through the work of Clancy Martin, Peter Singer, and an anthology of historical sources by Margaret Battin. Our methodology is to begin by exploring the origin of our society’s aversion to suicide through historical views. Next, we examine philosophers who argue for cases of morally permissible suicide. Then, we utilize a recent example of MAID as a real-life case of morally permissible suicide. In doing so, we attempt to use past philosophies to justify the accessibility of MAID in some specific instances. Our conclusion is that suicide is a complex issue which depends absolutely on a subjective perspective which complicates the view of when outside intervention is morally required.
