I read a couple of days ago that Aquinas argues that you ought not committ suicide to prevent yourself from being raped. For in commiting suicide, you commit a sin, whereas being raped you commit no sin at all. I'm not really convinced of Aquinas's argument. Setting aside the question of whether there is a God, it still seems to me grotesquely odd that even in that sort of circumstances, suicide is not morally permitted. It seems that Aquinas regards suicide as evil in nature and it is thus absolutely forbidden. No matter how much good might come out of it in the end, it is never morally permissible. For the end can never justify the means. This of course relates to the doctrine of double effects (dde) as is often discussed in the ethical literature. Roughly, dde concerns itself with the moral permissibility of an act that has two effects, one good the other bad. And roughly dde says that an action can be permissible only if it satisfies the following four conditions. 1. Can't be evil in nature. 2. Can't be an evil means 3. The bad effect of the action is not intended by the agent (although might be forseeable) 4. minimise the forseeable harm of course, dde is quite popular among the church people. but i doubt that it is a reasonable criterion. anyway, it's just something that came across my mind.. what do people think about dde? --

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