Freedom and Viruses

A common argument against lockdowns is that they restrict freedom. On this view, lockdowns might be effective in protecting public health, but their impact on freedom is purely negative. This article challenges that view. It argues that while lockdowns restrict freedom, so too do viruses. Since viruses restrict freedom and lockdowns protect us from viruses, lockdowns can protect us from the harmful effects that viruses have on freedom. The problem we face is not necessarily freedom versus public health. Sometimes it is freedom itself—or its value or distribution—that provides reason for lockdowns.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  Ethics: An International Journal of Social, Political, and Legal Philosophy

• Publication date

  2022-07-01

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1086/719516
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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