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Pandemics, Protocols, and the Plague of Athens: Insights from Thucydides
Author(s) -
Fins Joseph J.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
hastings center report
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.515
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1552-146X
pISSN - 0093-0334
DOI - 10.1002/hast.1132
Subject(s) - plague (disease) , pandemic , deference , ambivalence , state (computer science) , environmental ethics , law , sociology , covid-19 , political science , history , psychology , social psychology , medicine , philosophy , disease , pathology , algorithm , computer science , infectious disease (medical specialty) , archaeology
When confronted by the novel ethical challenges posed by a pandemic, it is helpful to turn to history for guidance and direction. In this essay, the author revisits Thucydides's description of the Plague of Athens from The Peloponnesian War as he considers the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law's 2015 guidelines on ventilator allocation. Confronted by the exigencies of the Covid‐19 surge that struck New York, he questions the task force's decision not to give any degree of preference to health care workers who might become ill. He posits that they are due a compensatory ethic and some deference given the risks they have assumed, often with inadequate protective gear. Reflecting on his ambivalence, he asks if his change of heart reflects the impact of experiential learning or the erosion of nomos— or governing norms—described by Thucydides when the plague struck Athens .