Resolved: Self-harm (including suicide) is morally permissible.

The debate topic is Resolved:Self harm (including suicide) is morally permissible. In this debate I will argue that self harm (including suicide) is not morally permissable. Before I begin, I would like to quote Aquinas. "(1) Suicide is contrary to natural self-love, whose aim is to preserve us. (2) Suicide injures the community of which an individual is a part. (3) Suicide violates our duty to God because God has given us life as a gift and in taking our lives we violate His right to determine the duration of our earthly existence (Aquinas 1271, part II, Q64, A5). " Contention 1: Suicide is contary to natural self love, whose aim is to preserve us This statement is supported by Evolutionary theory, which states that the purpose of living is to survive and reproduce. Killing oneself would go against our biological tendency to love our selves, ie surviving and reproducing. This statement is also supported by Immanuel Kant, who stated "To annihilate the subject of morality in one's person is to root out the existence of morality itself from the world as far as one can, even though morality is an end in itself. Consequently, disposing of oneself as a mere means to some discretionary end is debasing humanity in one's person" (Kant 423)" According to Kant, the centre of morality was the self. When someone killed themselves, the centre of morality was gone, hence it was immoral to kill onself. Contention 2: (2) Suicide injures the community of which an individual is a part. According to Aristole, "a community depends on the economic and social productivity of its members, its members have an obligation to contribute to their society, an obligation clearly violated by suicide (Pabst Battin 1996, 70"78, Cholbi 2011, 58"60)." This is a part of the social-contract theory, in which people have a moral obligation to serve eachother. When someone takes their life away, the community is at a disadvantage, because it means less labor, less ideas, and less discoveries that could change the world for the better. Had Da Vinci, Pasteur, Duchesne, or Einstein commited suicide, the world would have been at a severe disadvantage, and we would not have scientific or medical knowledge we have now. In addition to suicide and self harm potentially depreving society of great advances in the future, suicide and self harm directly effects others in a negative way. Often, a loved one blames the suicide or self harm on themselves. Feelings of guilt, and depression emerge, leading to severe psychological issues, all of which could have been avoided if one had not comitted suicide. If what is unethical is determined by what gives more negatives than positives, than suicide and self harm is unethical, as it deprives the community of labor, discoveries, and ideas, as well as causing grief and depression to loved ones. Contention 3: Suicide violates our duty to God because God has given us life as a gift and in taking our lives we violate His right to determine the duration of our earthly existence. If the Judeo-Christian God is real, then he determines morality. If suicide and self harm is immoral according to God, then self harm and suicide is immoral. Sources: http://plato.stanford.edu... (Note: I appologize for not fully developing my arguments, as I was running short on time. Hopefully I will be able to more fully develop my arguments next round.)