"But we should respect the decision of a middle-aged man who had a wonderful and very successful career, and maybe came to the conclusion that he's done."
Consider what it means for that decision to be rational. Or rather, consider just one immediate corollary: Those of us who know we are not going to have "wonderful and very successful" lives, certainly not as successful as Williams, should immediately kill ourselves. Rationality has this weird nature of being prescriptive, right?
"Suicide in a way is an insult to the living..."
How could a reasonable, rational choice be an insult to anyone or anything?
The decision to commit suicide, or to not do so for that matter, is not especially rational. But then, most major questions aren't either.
I think bambax meant that the living often take the "suicide" of someone we know as an insult, that we perhaps weren't good enough friends or family or that we missed something. This is true sometimes, though often it isn't and there is nothing that could prevent the suicide from eventually occurring.
Consider what it means for that decision to be rational. Or rather, consider just one immediate corollary: Those of us who know we are not going to have "wonderful and very successful" lives, certainly not as successful as Williams, should immediately kill ourselves. Rationality has this weird nature of being prescriptive, right?
"Suicide in a way is an insult to the living..."
How could a reasonable, rational choice be an insult to anyone or anything?
The decision to commit suicide, or to not do so for that matter, is not especially rational. But then, most major questions aren't either.