珍视生命。

Valuing lives.

作者信息

Perrett Roy W

出版信息

Bioethics. 1992 Jul;6(3):185-200. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8519.1992.tb00197.x.

DOI:10.1111/j.1467-8519.1992.tb00197.x

Abstract

[E]conomists have to assess the value of human lives in order to decide how much ought to be spent on matters like road improvements, safety measures, health costs and pollution controls. These economic measures of the value of a life are the subject of this paper. When I first heard of the attempts of economists to put a monetary price on the value of a life I was sure that such measures would have to be at best hopelessly partial and at worst morally objectionable. I now think I was wrong on both counts and in this paper I shall argue that: (i) it is morally permissible to put a price on a person's life; and (ii) there is a theoretically adequate way of determining such a price.

摘要

经济学家必须评估人类生命的价值，以便决定应该在道路改善、安全措施、医疗成本和污染控制等事项上花费多少。这些对生命价值的经济衡量是本文的主题。当我第一次听说经济学家试图给生命价值赋予货币价格时，我确信这些衡量充其量不过是无可救药地片面，最坏的情况下是在道德上令人反感的。我现在认为我在这两点上都错了，在本文中我将论证：（i）给一个人的生命定价在道德上是允许的；（ii）有一种理论上足够的方法来确定这样一个价格。