Taking steps to avoid death is trivially a signal that in some way a person wishes to avoid death; whether that side of their internal conflict will prevail is

Taking steps to avoid death is trivially a signal that in some way a person wishes to avoid death; whether that side of their internal conflict will prevail is another matter and, of course, not at all certain. But it is 100% within the bounds of respecting their agency (and, I'd argue, a duty) to help someone who is fighting to stay alive do so. The argument is that suicide hotlines don't imply a paternalistic "all citizens must keep breathing at all costs" ideology because they require the voluntary step of asking for help, and someone who asks for help can be meaningfully said to want it. >Myth: People who are suicidal want to die. I agree that this is not true in general, but to say that it is never true is more of a philosophical position (the topic of this thread) than the measurable science fact you're making it out to be. > something that you clearly know little about. I can find many responses to this, but none of them civil.