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Debate Score:36
Arguments:26
Total Votes:41
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jessald(1915) pic



How much is a life worth?

How much money, in US dollars, is one life worth? 

I suppose it depends on the circumstances, so let's restrict ourselves to this situation: 

You make $40 thousand a year from your job.  A 20 year old male contracts a deadly disease.  He can be cured and make a full recovery, but only if *you* are willing to pay for his treatment.  This guy is average in every way.  You don't know the guy, he's just a random stranger.  How much would you be willing to pay?

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3 points

I think you could make a neat little finance problem out of this question if you included some more variables so that you could compute the present value of an annuity for his future salary.

Just pulling a number out of the air? If I made $40K I think I would give it all and sell my story to Oprah.

Side: Whole Years Salary
1 point

So computing his total life income would indicate how much his life is worth? That sounds kind of reasonable, actually.

As for Oprah, that's a funny answer, but you know what I'm trying to get at: How do we decide when the cost of saving a life is too great?

Side: Whole Years Salary
Pineapple(1449) Disputed
1 point

How much someone earns is by no means the total measure of his or her worth.

Side: Whole Years Salary
2 points

Yes this is a weird question and one that is hard to answer. But I think addressing it could yield important insights into many things.

I think I would be willing to pay at least $500. Any higher than that and I find myself having to stop and think about it.

Similarly I would probably not be willing to pay $50,000, as that would mean wiping out an entire years salary and eating into my savings.

I think, in these circumstances, the line for me would be somewhere around $10,000.

Side: Ten Thousand Dollars
2 points

A life is priceless. If we had universal health care, this wouldn't be an issue. I would forfeit half my income on an annual basis to ensure better health care (amoung other things). So I suppose the answer is 20,000 a year. But it wouldn't be one life saved, it would be millions.

Side: Ten Thousand Dollars
2 points

Apparently it is worth enough to take away another little one, to avoid an inconvinience.

Side: priceless
Pineapple(1449) Disputed
1 point

Are we talking abortion here? If so... don't you dare go thinking women have abortions simply because a child would be an "inconvenience." It's a much much more complicated decision.

If not, then I'm sorry for misinterpreting you.

Side: priceless
JakeJ(3255) Disputed
2 points

No no, you interpreted correctly.

" It's a much much more complicated decision. "

That word I used ["inconvenience"] sounds frivolous but think about it, thats a pretty huge inconvienience. Parenting takes a lot of selflessness. And how can you do that if you haven't even tried being married yet!?

The "decision" should be made before conception.

Side: priceless

Since he's that young, he's bound to be in rush hour traffic at some point in time. I'd let him die ;)

Side: priceless
jessald(1915) Disputed
1 point

I'd laugh, but I think you're being serious about letting him die. What if you were the sick guy?

Side: priceless
1 point

KWEEEEEEEEP!!!!````````````````````````````````````````````````

Side: priceless
1 point

Well, in reality, it depends how you know the person and how much money you have floating around to save their life. If you don't know the person and have some money floating around to save them, it'd only be as much as is available to not harm you or your family into financial ruins. So, I dunno, 1/4th of their yearly income? 1/6th? Isn't the government going to pay for it anyways?

But really, i don't know how much a human life is worth...I don't really think about it terms of money.

Side: priceless
1 point

It's all relative. I'm sure anybody would shell out more dough for a sibling or parent than a random Chinese man or French woman. So a life is worth different amounts depending on who is appraising it.

Side: its all relative
jessald(1915) Disputed
1 point

I believe I covered that in the debate description.....................

Side: its all relative
1 point

Well yeah, but I'm just saying that in that case, it could still fluctuate.

Side: its all relative
1 point

Life better be worth a dam lot i have gone through some hard times and I'm still only young so life better pay for it so .... yeah i think you know where I'm getting with this.

Side: A Hole Dam Lot

A life is priceless...it has no price tag on it. If a young person is terminally ill, someone in the medical field needs to step up to the plate and lend their expertise to the situation. I so wish we had socialized medicine in this country or something very similar to it. Becoming a doctor is a very costly undertaking but abiding by your oath is something that costs nothing and can help beyond measure in time of need.

Side: priceless
1 point

Ah, but medical equipment costs money, there are more sick people than there are doctors, and there are only so many hours in the day. Saving a life uses resources that could go toward other causes such as medical research -- research that could end up saving many lives. This is why we need to draw a line at some point and say saving this particular life is not worth the cost.

Side: priceless

I cannot toally disagree with you Jess but all that expensive equipment is being paid for with people who have and pay for their services. No, I cannot disagree with your logic but I sure don't like it much when giving up a portion of your money making practice could save many lives in the end as well. I wish life were like "House." ;p

Side: priceless
1 point

Price varies on the individual and how much HE'S willing to save his own life.

to me? a complete stranger is worth zero dollars. Good friends are worth a couple of hundred dollars and family goes up pretty high.

the government should focus on stopping death. this means paying for critical medical circumstances (car accident, surgery, etc.) and paying for a police force to protect us (which includes FBI and homeland security).

through that, I am paying for that... but, they service me just the same, so it's not a total loss.

Side: its all relative
1 point

$5000-$6000 dollars, that is how much the human body is worth if you sell it to the medical field in the United States of America.^1 He should only be bought for that much, if he dies I assume you can sell it and break even.

^1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8519611.stm

Side: As much as the human body costs

They should pay me!

Say, for instance, a child. Children cost hundreds of grand to raise - they ought to pay the parents.

Side: As much as the human body costs