Victor Cosculluela

In the following viewpoint, Victor Cosculluela argues that in most cases, coercive suicide prevention measures such as involuntary hospitalization are not warranted. Even if an individual considering suicide is mentally ill or ambivalent about suicide, he contends, these are not necessarily valid reasons for suicide intervention. Suicide may be justifiably prevented only in narrowly prescribed circumstances, he maintains. Cosculluela is the author of The Ethics of Suicide, from which this viewpoint is taken.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to Cosculluela, why should people with mental illnesses be permitted to realize their desire to commit suicide?
2. In what ways does the “cry for help” theory fail to justify attempts to prevent suicide, in the author’s view?
3. In Cosculluela’s opinion, why is the fact that a person’s...