71 - COVID 19 and the Ethics of Infectious Disease Control

As nearly half the world's population is now under some form of quarantine or lockdown, it seems like an apt time to consider the ethics of infectious disease control measures of this sort. In this episode, I chat to Jonathan Pugh and Tom Douglas, both of whom are Senior Research Fellows at the Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics in Oxford, about this very issue. We talk about the moral principles that should apply to our evaluation of infectious disease control and some of the typical objections to it. Throughout we focus specifically on some of different interventions that are being applied to tackle COVID-19. You can download the episode here or listen below. You can also subscribe to the podcast on Apple, Stitcher and a range of other podcasting services (the RSS feed is here). Show NotesTopics covered include: Methods of infectious disease controlConsequentialist justifications for disease controlNon-consequentialist justificationsThe proportionality of disease control measuresCould these measures stigmatise certain populations?Could they exacerbate inequality or fuel discrimination?Must we err on the side of precaution in the midst of a novel pandemic?Is ethical evaluation a luxury at a time like this? Relevant LinksJonathan Pugh's HomepageTom Douglas's Homepage'Pandemic Ethics: Infectious Pathogen Control Measures and Moral Philosophy' by Jonathan and Tom'Justifications for Non-Consensual Medical Intervention: From Infectious Disease Control to Criminal Rehabilitation' by Jonathan and Tom'Infection Control for Third-Party Benefit: Lessons from Criminal Justice' by TomHow Different Asian Countries Responded to COVID 19     #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own MailChimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe to the newsletter