Pandemic Ethics

Bioethical issues are practically urgent, politically divisive, and call for resolutions. They often involve questions that are perplexing, deep, and profound. To deal with them adequately requires philosophical tools and imagination. The Lanson Lectures in Bioethics were founded upon the belief that philosophical elucidation can clarify the nature of these difficult issues, and can lead to their resolution.

This book is a companion to Clinical Ethics on Film and deals specifically with the myriad of healthcare ethics dilemmas. While Clinical Ethics on Film focuses on bedside ethics dilemmas that affect the healthcare provider-patient relationship, Healthcare Ethics on Film provides a wider lens on ethics dilemmas that interfere with healthcare delivery, such as healthcare access, discrimination, organizational ethics, or resource allocation.

This book directly addresses the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. It does so by focusing on both the immediate effects during the pandemic and the lockdowns, as well as the issues related to the long-term social consequences that are likely to result from the economic crisis in the coming years. To date, most philosophical essays and books have focused on the health aspects of the pandemic, and in particular on the fields of medical ethics and public health ethics. Containing a truly international and interdisciplinary group of scholars, a unique and global perspective is offered on the rarely discussed social and economic consequences of the pandemic. This book is of great interest to academic philosophers, but also to researchers from the social sciences.

Drawing from a wide array of disciplinary perspectives and geographical contexts, this volume offers new insights for critically engaging with the problem of vulnerability. The essays here contained take the move from the COVID-19 pandemic, in order to explore the inherent vulnerability of individuals, but also of social, economic and political systems, and probe the descriptive and prescriptive import of the concept.

As the COVID-19 crisis comes to an end, leaders, organizations, and governments have to develop a “new normal” for doing business with a focus on protecting the environment, integrating new technologies and adapting to new social changes. Based on empirical studies and conceptual contributions from researchers and practitioners presented at the Griffiths School of Management & IT’s 12th Annual Conference on Business, Entrepreneurship and Ethics (GSMAC), this proceedings volume provides a multifaceted perspective on the impact and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on various public and private systems including education, business organizations and consumer behavior. In particular, this book explores the impact of the pandemic on remote work and employee health, sustainable development, and economic growth, among others. It also highlights the role of data analysis in understanding trends, opportunities, and challenges in the above systems.