Life is defined as the condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity, and continual change preceding death. Being alive is what sets humans apart from any common item such as a chair, a computer, or a desk. Theoretically all the things that were previously listed have a set price, and Majority of inanimate objects are assigned a specific value. However, when a person dies, is that person considered an inanimate object from that point on? Are they given a value for the worth of their life? Who is the judge that gets to say that one life is worth more than another? What gives them the right? Questions like these have been brushed aside by the government
…show more content…
After the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2011, there were multiple families that lost their loved ones. Seeking compensation for their loss, they looked towards the government for answers. According to Amanda Ripley in WTC Victims: What’s Life Worth, “Note that the lifetime earnings have been boosted by a flat $250,000 for "pain and suffering"--noneconomic losses, they are called” (Ripley). Her article goes on to say that the funds that these families are receiving eventually amount to zero after all the deductions are taken out (Ripley). This just shows that the government is trying to set a price on a human life which is just not an ethical thing to do. People are not objects. They should not be treated as if they are one even after …show more content…
Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of who has the right to assign a set price on one’s life. Whereas some are convinced that there are experts who can calculate the worth of an individual others maintain that no one should be able to set a value on a specific person. I agree that people should be compensated for their losses; however, I disagree with the way the government is trying to calculate the worth of an individual. Claude Fischer argues, “In one such estimate, the EPA calculated that an American life is worth, in current dollars, about $8,000,000” (Fischer). Although this seems life a hefty amount of money, what gives this people the right to claim that one man’s life is worth that specific amount? These people base their claims of calculations and research, but they do not consider that life is a fluctuating being that cannot be priced. No individual should have the right to say that one life is worth this much. Life is not something that can be sold or bought; therefore, it should not have a set price labeled on
After the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2011, there were multiple families that lost their loved ones. Seeking compensation for their loss, they looked towards the government for answers. According to Amanda Ripley in WTC Victims: What’s Life Worth, “Note that the lifetime earnings have been boosted by a flat $250,000 for "pain and suffering"--noneconomic losses, they are called” (Ripley). Her article goes on to say that the funds that these families are receiving eventually amount to zero after all the deductions are taken out (Ripley). This just shows that the government is trying to set a price on a human life which is just not an ethical thing to do. People are not objects. They should not be treated as if they are one even after …show more content…
Where this argument usually ends, however, is on the question of who has the right to assign a set price on one’s life. Whereas some are convinced that there are experts who can calculate the worth of an individual others maintain that no one should be able to set a value on a specific person. I agree that people should be compensated for their losses; however, I disagree with the way the government is trying to calculate the worth of an individual. Claude Fischer argues, “In one such estimate, the EPA calculated that an American life is worth, in current dollars, about $8,000,000” (Fischer). Although this seems life a hefty amount of money, what gives this people the right to claim that one man’s life is worth that specific amount? These people base their claims of calculations and research, but they do not consider that life is a fluctuating being that cannot be priced. No individual should have the right to say that one life is worth this much. Life is not something that can be sold or bought; therefore, it should not have a set price labeled on