Thisbookdiscusseshowhumanlivesareequatedwiththematerial,andarguesthatpricinglivesliesatthecoreofthepolitical;infact,asinPlatoorHobbes,andintheWeberianethicsofresponsibility,measurementisconsideredtobeoneofitscentralfeatures.ArielColonomosarguesthatthismeasurereliesprimarilyonhumanlivesandinterests,andthatthematerialequivalencetolivesistwofold.Theequivalenceisadoubleequation,aswepayforlivesandwepaywithlives.Thisdoubleequationconstitutesthemeasurementuponwhichthepoliticalequilibriumofasocietydependsandisthusakeyconstitutivepartofthepolitical.Thebookadoptstwoapproaches,bothwithaninterdisciplinaryperspective:oneexplanatoryandtheothernormative.First,itexplainsthenexusbetweenexistentialgoodsandmaterialgoods,drawingonadetailedanalysisofseveralcasestudiesfromcontemporarypolitics,bothdomesticandinternational.Second,itdiscussesnormativelythematerialvaluationofhumanlivesandthehumanvalueofmaterialgoods.Valueattributionandthequestionofthematerialequivalenttolivesareofrelevancenotonlyforpoliticaltheoryandphilosophy,butalsoforsociology,history,internationalrelations,andlegalstudies.
