Abstract
People value life many ways. “Absolutely”: Do I want to live? Do I think I ought to live? Relatively, viz-a-viz others: What are the relative values of your life and mine? Of an infant’s life, a child’s, a young adult’s, a forty-year-old’s, an octagenarian’s? Relatively, viz-a-viz other things in life: Should I risk my life to climb this mountain? Should I use these resources to increase my chances of staying alive, or should I use them for other things instead? Should they be used to save you? As compensation to others if I die: For how much should I insure my life for my beneficiaries? What damages should be paid to my family if you have wrongfully caused my death?
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© 1986 D. Reidel Publishing Company
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Menzel, P.T. (1986). Prior Consent and Valuing Life. In: Agich, G.J., Begley, C.E. (eds) The Price of Health. Philosophy and Medicine, vol 21. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4704-7_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4704-7_5
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