In my opinion value of life is more in the nature of the moral value that one attaches to human life than what most people do by measuring it in terms of economic value. In the social sciences it is often taken as the cost of preventing death in the given circumstances. A very valid example in point is the case of several hijackings in the past when hijackers made drastic and unreasonable demands as a condition to safely release passengers, and most often governments have bowed down to such demands in view of the immense value attached to human lives. Sometimes the value of human life is taken as a statistical term in measuring the cost of reducing the number of deaths in the given circumstances. However the fact remains that the value of human life is a very important issue having different connotations and intensity depending upon whether it is being considered from the point of view of healthcare, economics and political circumstances or even for life insurance purposes. Value of human life is a priority when issues arise relating to workers’ safety, impact of environment and globalization. It is imperative in the modern world to first consider every decision that involves taking action, in the context of the repercussions such actions will have on the value and quality of human life. Hence in every discipline that involves the taking of collective decisions for the betterment of mankind, the effects of every such program forms an important determinant in carrying such plans forward.
Putting an economic tag on the value of human life is considered by many as being inhumane since life is indeed priceless, but there has to be a trade off in terms of the limits to resources, skills and facilities to meet every eventuality when it becomes impossible to save human life on several occasions. It is inappropriate to compare the value of life of one person with that of another because life is invaluable for everyone and the term must be used purely in the context of saving the lives of human beings as far as possible. For an individual the value of life that he attaches is evident from the choices that he makes in regard to his life style and circumstances. A person may be adopting a sedentary lifestyle or may be engaged in habits such as taking drugs, or excessive smoking and alcoholism that eventually lead to premature death. Such lifestyles are clearly indicative of the person not attaching much value to his life. People who are ruthless and cruel in not having consideration for humanity also do not have value for human life. Alternatively people go to the extent of taking all precautions for themselves and their family in terms of healthcare and healthy lifestyles, which implies that they attach great value to their lives. For example a person may be willing to pay exorbitant price for taking all the possible hi tech precautionary measure for safety to reduce the risk of premature death. This is a choice in being willing to go the extra mile to avoid adverse circumstances and to avoid bad health conditions. Another example is of the employer who is willing to pay much higher salary for his worker to be stationed to work in very risky and hazardous circumstances, thereby implying that there is an economic value attached to human life.
On a more practical basis, tradeoff is unavoidable in real life situations when we have to attach an economic value to human life. Available resources are limited and choices have to be made in potential life and death situations. Value of life has to be assigned when a person takes rational decisions relating to the amount of health care spends and in risk management for safety at the work place and for insurance purposes, when a precise financial value has to be ascertained for one’s life. In reality there is nothing like the existence of a perfectly risk free world, and it is required for everyone to spend money to make life safer and free of hindrances in the face of unforeseen eventualities, for which value on human life has to be attached on different parameters for different people. It is in these circumstances that the value on human life becomes different for different people and communities.