Paternalism and the Ethics of Suicide Prevention

Suicide prevention is often justified by appeal to paternalism, i.e., to the putative fact that individuals typically engage in suicide based on the mistaken belief that a premature death would be in their interests. The Paternalistic Presumption holds that paternalistic considerations are ordinarily sufficient to establish a burden of proof in favor of suicide prevention efforts. This chapter aims to problematize the Paternalistic Presumption: Even when paternalism is most morally justified in principle, paternalism is a less compelling justification for suicide prevention than it initially appears. Our abilities to identify who is likely to engage in suicide and to exercise impartial judgment regarding those individuals’ interests is highly limited. In addition, there is good reason to suspect that paternalistic (i.e., non-consensual) methods of suicide prevention are generally less effective than consensual methods. Finally, some prevention methods should be opposed on paternalistic grounds because they reduce individuals’ lifetime well-being. Hence, even philosophical enthusiasts for paternalism should be skeptical about paternalistic justifications of suicide prevention.