Value of a human life?

[Tank]

Value is purely subjective.

Agreed. But does this just degrade the measure or make it unreliable to the point where it becomes meaningless?

[Asmodean]

Value is purely subjective.

Agreed. But does this just degrade the measure or make it unreliable to the point where it becomes meaningless?

What it means to me, and I subscribe to this point of view, as stated on page one, is that setting a price tag on human life is somewhat like setting a price tag on something at an auction that starts with zero and ends with the highest bidder...

There is no universal value for a life - human or otherwise - just the personal value for those that life touches in some ways. And that can be from zero to more than one's own life.

[winli]

Some things can increase or decrease that value though - I see a scientist's or a teacher's life as of more worth than that of a life-sentenced prisoner.  




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spam removed by admin

[Asmodean]

Some things can increase or decrease that value though - I see a scientist's or a teacher's life as of more worth than that of a life-sentenced prisoner.

Yup. I did say that. Please use the quote system in the future though



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And put your signature in the signature space by ways of profile controls. Get rid of the ads though, if you are at least a semi-serious member.

[pinkocommie]

Where there is a will,there is a way! I believe!



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ed hardy shoes|pandora charmsed hardy sale

I just reported this as spam.  Writing the same response (except for your choice in smiley) four times in four different threads with no explanation as to why your comment is at all relevant is spamming.  And, it's annoying.

*Wow, massive blockquote fail.  Edited to fix.

[Tank]

I just reported this as spam.  Writing the same response (except for your choice in smiley) four times in four different threads with no explanation as to why your comment is at all relevant is spamming.  And, it's annoying.

Where there is a will,there is a way! I believe!





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ed hardy shoes|pandora charmsed hardy sale

That make 2 reports and an unanswered PM asking for the links to be explained.

[Shine]

And @Shine, the same goes toward your words... I wasn't implying that there is "no standard by which to judge at all"  I was implying that any standard we do judge by, atheistically speaking, is meaningless when it comes to the initial question.  You might think something has "worth" because some human deems it "worthy"  but that means nothing, as another human could come along and deem it "worthless" then is the worth non-existent?  What happens if a dog deems it worthless?  What makes a human's opinion matter more than a dogs?  or even at all?  What you speak of is at best a sort of extrinsic "sanctity" to human life, not inherent "sanctity"  so I'm not entirely sure of the relevance to this thread.

-Ihateusernames

What does "ethical nihilism" mean then if not a rejection of any standard by which to judge actions?  If you are accepting a standard by which to judge actions, then how can morality be entirely fictional?  I am not arguing that morality is not constructed by humans, but I think that there is a difference between construction and fabrication.

I also think that there is a difference between judging an action right or wrong and determining an object's worth; the worth of an object could influence a judgment regarding an action in relation to said object, but I still see the two as separate endeavors.  The issue mentioned with who and what determines worth seems to align with the problems inherent in purely relativistic morality in that contradictory opinions would seem to deliver contradictory determinations of worth if worth is truly determined by opinion alone.  The closest that I can wrap my mind around it is that worth is determined by social consensus, ideally with respect to a universal application of the standard in that every member would agree regardless of their position in relation to the standard.  I do not know if that is even possible, but I think that I am trying to express a fusion of utilitarianism with Kantian ethics.

*Edit: I just realized that there was a separate thread started.  Sorry for continuing the derailment; I fail at reading the thread through before posting.  

[Whitney]

I just reported this as spam.  Writing the same response (except for your choice in smiley) four times in four different threads with no explanation as to why your comment is at all relevant is spamming.  And, it's annoying.

Where there is a will,there is a way! I believe!


That make 2 reports and an unanswered PM asking for the links to be explained.

I sent a pm asking if winli is a bot and said that if not then s/he has a day to remove all spam links from the posts.  So, remind me tomorrow if I need to ban it and have not done so.