The Value of Life: A Legal and Individual Perspective

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments for students. This essay explores the complex issue of life's value.

Should the value of
life be decided by law
or the individual

Table Of Contents
INTRODUCTION....................................................3
VALUE OF LIFE: WHETHER DECIDED BY
LAW OR AN INDIVIDUAL.................................3
CONCLUSION.......................................................6
REFERENCES.......................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Life is a wonderful gift from God. Understanding the value and meaning of human life is still one
of the most debated topics for several scholars, philosopher, and lawyers. One of the greatest
scholars, Aristotle is of the view, that rather than survival, the ultimate value of life is
dependent on awareness and power of contemplation (Kenny, 1992). Here, by contemplation,
he meant that the value of life shall be considered very deeply because it’s just not the survival
that gives meaning to life, but the awareness and the power of his deep thoughts that reflects
through his actions done in his life. It is very true that life is a very essential commodity
belonging to an individual, which is needed to be cherished and respected by each and every
individual. The value of life cannot be confined in the four walls of a definition; it cannot be
defined into a monetary term as well. The term ‘value of life’ is known by several terms: in case-
laws and literature, the term ‘value of life’ is generally replaced by the term ‘sanctity of life’. It
is also known as ‘reverence of life’. Both terms have the same meaning. However, nobody can
define the value of life in number or words, because the value of life is priceless and a human
being cannot be purchased or sold for the consideration of money.
VALUE OF LIFE: WHETHER DECIDED BY LAW OR AN INDIVIDUAL
Whether the value of life should be decided by law or an individual is a much-debated question.
It is very difficult to decide the value of life because in some cases it is necessary that it is
decided by law, while in most of the cases, it is decided by an individual. The government and
other judicial authorities bind persons in certain rules and regulation which everyone is obliged
to follow. On one hand, the value of life is considered where an individual can live his life to the
fullest, while on the other hand, these rules and regulations of the government bind a person to
follow these rules and not to go against them. The government generally makes laws and takes
decisions regarding the level of regulatory costs to reduce risks to life and death. Also, the
courts provide compensation to the families to compensate for their loss. The government of
the UK uses ‘value of prevented fatality (VPF)' to calculate the value of the life of people of all
ages (Thomas and Voughan, 2015).
Human life is of great value from the day he is born until his death. This value is priceless and
cannot be measured in terms of money. Many people argue on measuring and compensating
for something which is considered priceless due to their ethical or religious reasons. But, this
valuation is necessary for the policymakers engaged in health and safety (Birren, 2016). Also,
people argue that the value of life is infinite and they must receive infinite amount to
compensate their loss, but this also not possible because some limitations are needed to be
imposed on this amount which is required to be given as compensation to the suffering family.
Individuals consider that the value of life is the amount he is getting loved and what he has
achieved throughout his life. Generally, an individual takes decisions according to his will that

would consequently affect his life, either in a good way or a bad way. These decisions are those
choices that reflect an implicit value of life. Almost all the decisions taken by an individual are of
his own which directly affect his actions as well his value of life. People see the value of life in
their happiness, their emotions, and their beliefs. It must be kept in mind that each individual
has their own perspective, beliefs, and morals. An individual might compare his value of life
with another person, and may think that the life of other person is more comfortable, however,
this is not true and it must be noted that the value of the life of each individual is different and
every human has various aspects of life. Right to life is a fundamental right, given to each and
every human on this planet. However, when we consider the right to life while determining the
value of life, we do not consider the right to die in its scope (Kaplan, 2019).
When we talk about deciding the value of life by law, several acts and legislation have been
made to protect the right to life of an individual. By studying several cases, it can be easily
determined that many times, the judicial authorities have to struggle to separate the moral
obligations from the legal ones. Article 2 of the Human rights Act, 1998, states that each and
every individual has the right to life. It states that no matter what, nobody can violate the right
to life of an individual, including government (Cumper, 2017). It is the duty of the government
to safeguard the life of an individual and consider them while making any laws. The act also
provides that all the public authorities should consider the right to life of the individual and
should not take any action which may violate this right or affect their life expectancy. This
would not only secure his life but also it will improve the standard of living and enhance the
quality of life of an individual. However, the right to life is considered as an absolute right but in
certain cases, it is not applicable (Alberti and Emmons, 2017). Whenever a person commits an
offense or unlawful act, as a consequent of which the offender dies, it would not be considered
as the breach of his right to life. For example, when a person commits the offense of murder; or
when a person tries to run from the lawful detainment imposed on him; or when a person is
involved in rioting or any other action which disturbs public law and order. Certain legislations
have been passed in regard to such acts, but there are certain acts which create a dilemma
both for an individual as well as judicial or public authority. Some of the common instances
where there is a conflict in deciding the value of life by an individual or by law are:
Suicide and Euthanasia: There are certain situations where an individual wants to end his life.
Such a situation could be in 2 forms: suicide and euthanasia. The only difference between these
two terms is that, suicide a self-directed act, while euthanasia is to end someone’s life to relieve
them from suffering (Pitman et al, 2016). Suicide is the action where an individual decides to
ends his own life through self-direction. He does not engage or involve any other person to give
effect to this act. Euthanasia is medically controlled and supervised. Both euthanasia and
assisted suicide are illegal under English law (Seale, 2016). There are two types of euthanasia:
Active and passive. Active euthanasia is when a person's death is brought by the commission of

any act, while passive euthanasia refers to the omission of such acts and let the person die
(Danyliv and O'Neill, 2015). A person is driven towards the ides of euthanasia because he feels
that his value of life has diminished due to constant sickness and unbearable pain. This type of
situation is a dilemma for doctors as well as for the legislative and judicial bodies. On one hand
right to life of an individual shall be preserved, while on the other hand, acts like euthanasia or
suicide are the big concern for medical and judicial bodies.
Abortion: There is no legal status of an unborn child or a child in the mother's womb. Once the
child comes out, he acquires all those rights which are acquired by other human beings in the
whole world (Francome, 2017). Whenever, a child is killed in the mother's womb, due to some
reasons like religious beliefs, lack of money to take care of the child, rape, etc., it is known as
abortion. Here, the value of life of that unborn child is not decided by himself but either by his
parents or by law. Abortion is legal but it is completely unethical. How the values of life of a
fetus can be decided inside the mother’s womb (Batavia and Nelson, 2017). The decision of
abortion is complete of the pregnant woman, but subject to certain conditions. According to
the Abortion Act, 1967, the act of abortion is only legal when it is performed within the time
period of 24 weeks by a licensed and authorized medical practitioner. It should be noted that
the term of pregnancy shall not exceed a period of 24 weeks. The women also have the right to
be consulted and the opportunity to be informed with other choices and options. Also, the
value of a life of the child in the womb cannot be decided by the woman alone, the medical
practitioner can also refuse to take such action if they have any moral objection to it (Kavanagh
et al, 2018).
Medical Insurance and Compensation: There are several arguments regarding comparing the
value of life with money. Whenever a person dies, the family and the dependents of that
person become entitled to receive the amount of insurance to compensate and recover ‘their'
loss (Webber et al, 2015). However, the loss of a human could not be covered with the amount
of medical insurance. Also, whenever a tragedy strikes, the families of the victim are provided
with a certain amount of fund by the governmental bodies. Here, the question arises, whether
the value of the life of the victim can be measured in terms of money?. There are several
instances where a person dies due to some natural calamity or due to some other tragedy and
the government entitles them to receive compensation, so that their economic and financial
loss can be recovered. But contrary to this, several people object this decision of the
government that the government cannot decide the value of the life of the person they have
lost. This is also a common dilemma faced by governmental and judicial authorities regarding
ethics and deciding the value of the life of an individual (Manning, 2017).
From the above discussion of certain dilemmas and laws relating to the value of life, we can
easily understand that the life of an individual is a combination of decisions made by law and by
an individual. The value of life is the mixture of the quality and quantity of life which an

individual lives. Neither can it be completely decided by law, not by an individual. The actions
committed by an individual are a combination of laws prescribed by judicial bodies or
government authorities and choices and will of an individual.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that the value of life cannot be defined in
numbers or in any monetary value. However, in order to protect the rights and interests of the
individuals, sometimes the law has to decide an appropriate action which may or might not
breach the right to life of an individual. Most of the time, an individual lives his life according to
his decisions, choice, beliefs, and emotions, but this could not be made the absolute right of an
individual. Euthanasia or suicide are also personal choices of an individual, but still, the judicial
and governmental bodies need to interfere in such matters as it affects the quality and value of
the life of individuals. Hence, the answer to the question ‘Should the value of life is decided by
an individual or by law?' is that nobody can decide the value of the life of an individual because
life is priceless. Whenever a situation arises where interests of an individual are in conflict with
the rules and regulation of law, the law can decide the value of law in order to protect the
rights and interests of the society and other people. It is a never-ending debate to find the
intrinsic value of life and to decide who will decide the value of life.

REFERENCES
1. Kenny, A., 1992. Aristotle on the perfect life.
2. Batavia, C. and Nelson, M.P., 2017. For goodness sake! What is intrinsic value and why should
we care?. Biological Conservation, 209, pp.366-376.
3. Webber, D., Schimel, J., Faucher, E.H., Hayes, J., Zhang, R. and Martens, A., 2015. Emotion as
a necessary component of threat-induced death thought accessibility and defensive
compensation. Motivation and Emotion, 39(1), pp.142-155.
4. Manning, J.M., 2017. Does the law on compensation for research-related injury in the UK,
Australia, and New Zealand meet ethical requirements?. Medical law review, 25(3), pp.397-427.
5. Francome, C., 2017. Abortion in the USA and the UK. Routledge.
6. Tirelli, U. and Spina, M., 1996. Prostitution: to decriminalise or to legalise. The Lancet, 348(9032),
p.962.
7. Kavanagh, A., Wielding, S., Cochrane, R., Sim, J., Johnstone, A. and Cameron, S., 2018.
‘Abortion’or ‘termination of pregnancy’? Views from abortion care providers in Scotland, UK. BMJ
Sex Reprod Health, 44(2), pp.122-127.
8. Pitman, A.L., Osborn, D.P., Rantell, K. and King, M.B., 2016. Bereavement by suicide as a risk
factor for suicide attempt: a cross-sectional national UK-wide study of 3432 young bereaved
adults. BMJ open, 6(1), p.e009948.
9. Seale, C., 2016. ANALYSIS OF HEALTH COMMUNICATION TEXTS UK PRESS COVERAGE
OF DEBATES ABOUT ASSISTED DYING. Mètode Science Studies Journal, (6), pp.235-240.
10. Danyliv, A. and O'Neill, C., 2015. Attitudes towards legalising physician provided euthanasia in
Britain: The role of religion over time. Social Science & Medicine, 128, pp.52-56.
11. Cumper, P., 2017. Religious Organisations and the Human Rights Act 1998. In Law and Religion
in Contemporary Society(pp. 69-90). Routledge.
12. Alberti, R. and Emmons, M., 2017. Your perfect right: assertiveness and equality in your life and
relationships. new harbinger publications.
13. Kaplan, K.J., 2019. Right to die versus sacredness of life. Routledge.
14. Birren, F., 2016. Color psychology and color therapy; a factual study of the influence of color on
human life. Pickle Partners Publishing.
15. Thomas, P.J. and Vaughan, G.J., 2015. Testing the validity of the “value of a prevented
fatality”(VPF) used to assess UK safety measures. Process Safety and Environmental
Protection, 94, pp.239-261.