Corona, from a philosophical perspective ... Habermas sees a global behavior that shows an outright ignorance

The Corona pandemic's outbreak in the European continent and the western world unleashed a massive wave of intellectual, philosophical and self-critical reviews, presented by a group of philosophers and thinkers of the Western world and his famous writers. 

Contrary to the advice of doctors and the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding the rules for controlling and avoiding infection, intellectuals in the Western world have blamed a set of intellectual factors that have compounded the losses from the pandemic.

In an interview with Le Monde newspaper, the famous German philosopher Jürgen Habermas analyzed the results and the moral and political implications of the current global health crisis, and urged the European Union to help the most affected member states, saying, "We must strive to abolish neoliberalism."

In the interview that Nicolas Trung gave to the French newspaper, the philosopher - born in 1929, who is considered one of the most important philosophers of Europe in this era - considered that the Corona pandemic imposed on the world the act of explicit ignorance, where people see their governments making decisions based on consulting recognized virologists. With their ignorance, Habermas thus expected that this extraordinary experience would leave its mark on the public conscience.

The Constitution of Europe
The author of the "Constitution of Europe", who believes in its unity, addressed the ethical challenges of this health crisis, and considered that the guarantee provided by the constitution is likely to contribute to not violating human dignity, expressing his concern about the danger posed by the saturation of intensive care units in hospitals, because it may be forced The doctor has to make a tragic, unethical decision.

Habermas explained that this is the way in which the temptation to violate the principle of strict equality of treatment arises, without looking at the social status, origin, age, etc., and thus the temptation to help young people at the expense of the elderly, and even if the elderly agree in a moral position of self-denial, then who Who can "differentiate" between one person’s life and another? And how does the doctor give himself the right to decide life and death?

Life above benefits:
The new German philosopher adds that, in cases that allow tragic decisions alone, he must direct it exclusively on the basis of medical evidence that indicates that the clinical treatment in question has a great chance of success.

With the decision on the appropriate time to end quarantine, protecting the necessary life at both the moral and legal levels may appear to contradict the logic of utilitarian calculations, which means that when balancing economic or social harm on one hand and preventable deaths, politicians must Resist the "temptation of utilitarian calculations."

As for being prepared to risk the saturation of the health system, and consequently high mortality rates, to give the economy a boost that mitigates the social catastrophe of an upcoming economic crisis, basic rights prevent state institutions from making any decision that benefits from the death of anyone, as Habermas sees.

When asked about the possibility of a state of emergency turning into a democratic base, the philosopher cautioned that restricting a large number of important freedom rights must remain in order for a very limited period, but it is a required measure as a priority to reach the fundamental right to life and physical integrity, although some may exploit it for political ends.

The German philosopher - who is described as the heir to the legacy of the Frankfurt School, which invented philosophical concepts such as technical hegemony and the instrumental mind - revealed that spending a long time in front of the computer reflecting on the science and history of thought reduces the strain on it.

A united, democratic Europe
When the conversation moved to European solidarity, Habermas urged European countries to close ranks and help affected member states to ease speculative pressure in financial markets, in order to save the euro, and thus the solid core of the European Union. He asked: "What is the benefit of the European Union if it does not prove in the difficult times of the Corona crisis that the Europeans are lining their ranks and fighting together for a common future?"

When asked about the story that could breathe new life into the unpopular and united European Union? Habermas explained that the chosen arguments and terminology do not have much benefit against resentment, but that a solid European core is able to work and provide concrete solutions to current problems; it can prove that the union is invaluable.

Although this global crisis may give impetus to the national populist forces that threaten Europe, the philosopher said that the right-wing populist who is calling everywhere from the European Union to exercise behind national barriers is due to two things: the anger caused by the fact that the national state has lost its ability to act politically, and the type From an intuitive defensive reaction to a real political challenge.

As for ordinary "right-wing" populists that extend far beyond the poor and marginalized classes of the population, they are - according to Habermas - a fact that must be taken seriously, which is the result of many stimulating and disturbing factors, such as technological change and continuous digitization in the world of work, and a phenomenon Immigration that makes one fear for his economic and social situation.

The German philosopher warned of the growing danger of national populism and the extreme right, considering that the political authorities had turned a blind eye to him under the pretext of the dominant anti-communism.

The philosopher - to whom a huge book on "The History of Philosophy" will be published soon - concluded that what we refuse to do is that only a recognition of a united democratic Europe can bring us out of this predicament - a post-democracy predicament.