Ethical Aspects of Valuing Lives

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to address questions related to the complex issue of valuing lives. Although some parts of the paper may be directly or indirectly relevant to the evaluations of non-human lives, the aim is to concentrate on evaluations of human lives.

His mother hugged him very hard and said: ‘Suppose you had fallen offs Suppose we had lost you!’

‘Would you have been sorry then?’ asked Midge hopefully.

‘Yes, what do you think?’ said Mummy. ‘We don’t want to lose you for anything in the world, you know that.’

‘Not even for a hundred thousand million pounds?’ asked Midge.

‘No, not even for a hundred thousand million pounds.’

‘Am I worth all that much?’ asked Midge, surprised.

‘You are,’ said his mother, hugging him again.

Midge thought. A hundred thousand million pounds, what a frightful lot of money! Was it possible that he could be worth that much? When you could get a puppy, a really nice puppy, for five pounds.

‘Daddy,’ said Midge when he had finished thinking. ‘If I’m worth a hundred thousand million pounds, couldn’t I take out five pounds in cash and buy myself a puppy?’

(Astrid Lindgren, Karlson on the Roof, Methuen 1958/1975, pp. 72–3)