Know what this forum lacks? It lacks a certain logical flair to it. I forward that we remedy the situation with a discussion of modern philosophy.
I shall begin with a discourse on existentialism and worth.
How can the life of a person be given a worth? What truly is a worth?
Throughout history, human life has been ranked according to its perceived worth. A peasant was not worth nearly as much as a prince, for example. They believed that people are born into their worth as a person, and could not change this. They backed this stagnant philosophy through religion, claiming that a person that was born higher was appointed so by God.
In the late 18th century, things changed. Mostly due to the impact of German philosophy, scholars started to believe that human worth was not truly inherited, but instead was the cause of a person's own actions. The German philosophers believed that if you removed religion from philosophy, you were better able to asses the human condition. They came to the conclusion that the human condition was a result of undervaluation of human worth; that humans are intrinsically born worth the same, but were worth more or less by their actions.
In recent philosophy (postmodern), the current trend is to believe that one can never truly assess the worth of a human's life, as it is all a matter of perspective. Because any evaluation of worth is influenced by the assessor, it cannot be firmly established to any sense of a set norm. Without any static point of reference, it would be folly to evaluate it.
Although I normally completely disagree with postmodernist philosophy, even I must admit there is much weight to that argument. In addition, my Christian beliefs definitely steer me towards the valuation of all human life as equal; ironic that through my religion, the same religion of the medieval philosophers, I argue the exact opposite philosophy.
Please, tell me your belief about this topic.