Open AccessA Brief History of Ethics in the Presence of a Pandemic
Author(s) -
Curt Anderson
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
advanced journal of social science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2581-3358
DOI - 10.21467/ajss.9.1.27-35
Subject(s) - mandate , ideal (ethics) , pandemic , consequentialism , covid-19 , political science , law and economics , environmental ethics , sociology , positive economics , law , medicine , economics , philosophy , disease , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty)
The current COVID-19 pandemic has had a strong effect on individual liberty versus a consequentialist ideal of the greater good for societal norms. Rather than arguing for the current situation, I have chosen to take a historical approach to address the ethics of dealing with these health situations in the past. Ultimately, I conclude that, while at risk of individual liberty, a rule utilitarian approach, as backed up by epidemiolocal data suggests that a mandate for the greater good is more ethical than a simple approach to individual liberty.