Six political philosophies in search of a virus: critical perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic
London School of Economics. European Institute
LSE - London
2020
16 p.
epidemic disease ; philosophical aspect ; human rights ; state intervention
LEQS Papers
156
Social sciences
http://www.lse.ac.uk/european-institute/Assets/Documents/LEQS-Discussion-Papers/LEQSPaper156.pdf
English
Bibliogr.
"The Coronavirus (Covid-19) poses interesting questions for social and political thought. These include the nature and limits of the ethical responsibility of the state, personal liberty and collective interests, human dignity, and state surveillance. As many countries throughout the world declared states of emergency, some of the major questions in political philosophy become suddenly highly relevant. Foucault's writings on biopolitical securitization and Agamben's notion of the state of exception take on a new reality, as do the classical arguments of utilitarianism and libertarianism. In this paper, I discuss six main philosophical responses to the pandemic, including provocative interventions made by Agamben, Badieu, and Zizek, Latour on the governance of life and death as well as the Kantian perspective of Habermas on human dignity."
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