Pixel International Conferences

Assigning value to human life is a very controversial. The subject, given its intrinsic importance has, in my experience, always succeeded in capturing students’ attention and interest when applied in different contexts, disciplines, and levels. The activity is very interactive, student-cantered and can be easily modified to fit needed educational and pedagogical outcomes. This paper explains how the topic can be applied to different academic disciplines and different educational levels, from secondary to post-secondary. Initially created as an exercise for student of economics, the activity can seamlessly be used in several disciplines and educational outcomes. Given its original target audience, students of economics, an important distinction is made between value and price. Price is determined by the market forces of supply and demand, while value has a more subtle and complex nature.  In economics and related disciplines, value is generally considered the individual maximum price a person is willing to pay for a certain good: it is a subjective value. More generally, though, economic value is just of the many aspects of value, which include, but are not limited to, sentimental value, religious value, aesthetic value and so on, and for this reason very difficult to quantify. In many society throughout history, humans had a price - a market price - based on specific individual characteristics, and to a certain extent fully tradeable. Today, we talk about value of life in different contexts. The idea of placing a monetary value on human life is the springboard for applications in several disciplines, from philosophy and literature, to history, economics and jurisprudence, with a strong foundation of methodology and empirical analysis.

Keywords: Interdisciplinary, interactive activity, social sciences, education methodology, value of life, ethical frameworks.

References:

[1] Berry, D. 2017. The Price for Their Pound of Flesh: The Value of Enslave from Womb to Grave in the Building of a Nation. Beacon Press.
[2] Feinberg, K. 2005. What Is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11, New York, NY: Public Affairs.
[3] Frank, R. 2007. The Economic Naturalist, New York, NY: Basic Books.
[4] Friedman, D. 1982. “What is ‘fair Compensation’ for Death or Injury?” International Review of Law and Economics, 2: 81-93.
[5] Rachels, J., and Rachels, S. 1994. The Elements of Moral Philosophy. Boston: McGraw-Hill.
[6] Satz, D. 2010. Why Some Things Should Not Be for Sale: The Moral Limits of Markets. Oxford University Press.
[7] Sunstein, C., and Posner, E. 2004. “Dollars and Death,” AEI-Brookings Joint Center Working Paper No. 04-15, U of Chicago, Law & Economics.