The current COVID-19 pandemic and the measures to contain it have led to an absolutely exceptional situation in large parts of the world and are challenging our society in an unprecedented way. There has not been any experience with similar health risks in the last decades. Also, the current rigorous liberty-limiting governmental measures are unprecedented. What seemed impossible a short while ago has suddenly become a reality: a dramatic capacity-overload of health systems in the middle of Europe, the shutdown of practically all public life, curfews and border controls, schools and universities closed, etc.
This crisis has opened up a multitude of serious ethical questions and conflicts, it requires difficult political and social decisions: If there is a shortage of medical resources such that not all seriously ill patients can be treated adequately – based on which criteria should patients be prioritized? Are, for example, age, belonging to medical staff or likelihood of recovery good or at least the best possible criteria for those choices? How are different governmental approaches – such as aiming for herd immunity, isolating particularly vulnerable groups, or even a (almost) complete social lockdown – to be ethically assessed? How are the positive effects of the lockdown (e.g. slowdown of the infection rate, reduction of deaths) to be balanced against its negative effects (e.g. financial crises of companies and private households, psychosocial crises, worsening of social inequalities, etc.)? How can the competing high moral goods (e.g. freedom, protection of life, human dignity) be fairly weighed against each other? What are the moral implications for example of calls for social/physical distancing? How does the current pandemic influence our understanding of health and disease? How is the media coverage to be evaluated? What global justice issues are arising in the crisis?
This lecture series will critically address these and many other crucial questions from transdisciplinary perspectives. During the acute crisis, many difficult decisions had to be made under great time pressure; in the lecture, however, the various aspects can be reflected upon in greater detail; especially against the background of which lessons can be learned for possible future similar pandemics – whether as political decision-makers, members of the health care system or responsible citizens of a democratic state. The speakers will be leading international experts in ethics, medicine, public health, law, etc.