Price versus Dignity

"In the kingdom of ends everything has either a price, or a dignity. What has a price can be replaced with something else, as its equivalent; whereas what is elevated above any price, and hence allows of no equivalent, has a dignity."

First, I don't necessarily agree with his notion of what has a price can be replaced with something else. For example, if I go out to dinner with my mother, I am able to put a price on the food, on gas money, and any other miscellaneous item involved in our outing. Our outing does not have to be a dinner date and can be replaced by another activity, however the moment we share during our date does not have a price and can not be replaced with an equivalent. The moment may be replaced with another moment but the same mood, conversation, and other circumstantial factors will not be the same. What has a price can be a means to something beyond the physical.

Second, in this quote, and in Kant's interpretation, dignity has no equivalent. I agree yet am conflicted with this statement. It brings me back to our discussion in class, if I had to chop up one person, to save all of New York, would I? Part of me wants to say no because of the dignity of the individual. However, another part believes that by not chopping up the individual and thus allowing millions to die, I am not respecting their dignity.

A more modern example, Apple released the IPhone six a week or two ago. Whenever apple releases new products the whole world goes insane and buys them out. There is nothing wrong with wanting the newest technology, however behind these phones is a deadly market, and even when people are made aware of conflict minerals in these phones and the inhumane conditions the laborers work in, everyone still runs out and buys these phones. They are valuing the product more than the dignity of those individuals who suffer and sometimes die. As a society, we are valuing products more than we are valuing one another and act as though what has a price can't be replaced with an equivalent and what doesn't have a price (dignity) can be replaced with an equivalent (technology/ iPhones).