COVID-19 calls for virtue ethics

Abstract

The global spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) or Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19) has led to the imposition of severely restrictive measures by governments in the Western hemisphere. We feel a contrast between these measures and our freedom. This contrast, we argue, is a false perception. It only appears to us because we look at the issue through our contemporary moral philosophy of utilitarianism and an understanding of freedom as absence of constraints. Both these views can be substituted with more sophisticated alternatives, namely an ethics of virtue and a notion of freedom of the will. These offer a fuller picture of morality and enable us to cooperate with the current restrictions by consciously choosing to adhere to them instead of perceiving them as draconian and immoral. We ask whether we should collaborate with the restrictions and argue that considerations of virtue will lead to an affirmative answer. More broadly, virtue ethics permits to deal with the practical concerns about how an individual should behave during this pandemic, given the current lockdown measures or lack thereof. In section 1, we present how utilitarianism and a notion of freedom as negative liberty support the opposition to restrictive measures. In section 2, we outline an alternative based on an ethics of virtue and a more elaborated notion of free will. In the concluding section 3 we argue that considerations of virtue should guide the individual and public response to the emergency.

Public health decisions in the COVID-19 pandemic require more than ‘follow the science’

“…56 The Aristotelian definition of common good provides an alternative that does not incur the typical flaws of the utilitarian model. 55 Although the Aristotelian definition might not be as straightforward and pragmatic as the utilitarian, we are adopting it for its consistency with the human rights principles of equality and non-discrimination. Aristotelians define the common good as the set of values and reasons that justify collaboration with others in the community in a way that enables mutual flourishing (ie, the good life for each and every member of the community).…”

Trends and lessons of anti-crisis legal regulationin in the period of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…В зарубежной прессе отмечалось, что недовольство действиями правительств связано с тем, что население ощутило резкий контраст между ограничительными мерами и свободой. Франческа Беллацци и Конрад В. Бойнебург утверждают, что этот контраст является «ложным восприятием» (Bellazzi & Boyneburgk, 2020). Дело в том, что мы рассматриваем этот вопрос через нашу современную моральную философию утилитаризма и понимание свободы как отсутствия ограничений.…”

The Right to Be Forgotten and COVID-19: Privacy versus Public Interest

“…to treat others as 'ends in themselves', not as means to one's well-being. This perspective calls for the ethics of virtue and a more expanded concept of free will (28). Now let us turn to a brief remark on both theories through the lens of human rights.…”

“…On the other hand, consequentialist ethics is the moral theory, according to which one can consider actions right or wrong because of their consequences (10,28). Utilitarianism is the best-known form of consequentialism (9,28). In utilitarianism, defended by John Stuart Mill (29) and Jeremy Bentham (30), the right action is to maximize the good and utility.…”