Yeah, it’s just transparently stupid stuff like “Each life counts for one and that is why more count for more. For this reason we should give priority to saving as many lives as we can, not as many life-years.” (Harris 1987, ‘QALYfying the Value of Life’.)
I discuss a bunch of arguments along these lines in my 2016 ‘Against “Saving Lives”’ paper.
My general sense is that academic standards in bioethics are extremely low, and that much of the discipline just serves to launder conventional intuitions to create an appearance of “expert” support.
Yeah, it’s just transparently stupid stuff like “Each life counts for one and that is why more count for more. For this reason we should give priority to saving as many lives as we can, not as many life-years.” (Harris 1987, ‘QALYfying the Value of Life’.)
I discuss a bunch of arguments along these lines in my 2016 ‘Against “Saving Lives”’ paper.
My general sense is that academic standards in bioethics are extremely low, and that much of the discipline just serves to launder conventional intuitions to create an appearance of “expert” support.