Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Members of CEPL who have made contributions to the public discussion around the COVID-19 health emergency
Ask CEPL a question about the COVID-19 pandemic
We at the Centre want to hear from you what issues about the pandemic you want to hear addressed and what questions you want answered. Ask us about the ethics of aspects of the response to the pandemic, or about our relationship to the authorities managing this crisis, or what COVID-19 shows us about ourselves and our society, or any other philosophical question you may have about it.
Lisa Foran - Lockdown beomes more tolerable when it's of our own choosing
Lisa Foran writes in a piece for subscribers to the Irish Independent about how it makes a difference that the October lockdown is a matter of deliberate policy, meaning that it is an expression of our society making rational, morally sensitive decisions.
Dublin Inquirer features 'Ask a Philosopher' initiative
The Dublin Inquirer has an article where Prof Rowland Stout and Dr Silvia Panizza are interviewed about our ongoing 'Ask a Philosopher' initiative as part of our COVID-19 public outreach efforts.
Vittorio Buffachi - How coronavirus exposed our society's inherent ageism
Vittorio Buffachi draws on the work of Cicero to discuss the distinctive value of old age and the elderly, and why examples of policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic which places the elderly at most risk harm society.
UCD in Conversation - The Philosophy of Mental Wellbeing
Can philosophy help us during a global pandemic? Watch us discuss how philosophy can help us live well in the face of radical uncertainty and spiralling self-doubt, as well as answering questions of people who watched the livestream as this was being recorded. Dr. Emma Farrell, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, UCD School of Education and Dr. Áine Mahon, Assistant Professor in Philosophy of Education, UCD School of Education appear in conversation with Dr. Shane Bergin, Physicist and Assistant Professor in Science Education, UCD School of Education. They discuss the themes in Farrell and Mahon's article on the same topic.
Lisa Foran - Why we can't get anything done in lockdown
Lisa Foran from the Centre discusses how the uncertainty of the pandemic changes our perception of the world in a way that makes it hard to do everyday tasks and to make actionable plans for the future.
John McGuire - Democracy and disease
John McGuire from the UCD School of Philosophy writes about what we can learn about the effects on the pandemic on our democracy by looking at how the plague of Athens affected that ancient democracy.
Wolfgang Marx - COVID-19 & Conspiracy Theories
CEPL member Wolfgang Marx gives a video presentation on some of the conspiracy theories about Covid-19, what drives them, and how we can help ourselves not fall prey to this kind of erronous thinking.
Christopher Cowley - We need working institutions, not only heroic individuals
Christopher Cowley from the Centre writes about the perils of understanding the respond to the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of personal heroism, while what is most important is to have well run and well funded institutions, and it is too easy for individual heros to be found within floundering institutions.
Rowland Stout - Why we should follow the rules: a call for COVID-solidarity
Rowland Stout, director of the Centre, writes a short piece about why it is a mistake to try and give yourselves reasons why it is OK for you not to follow the advice about staying in lockdown, even if it is very disruptive and it can be hard to see why the rules are what they are.
Emma Farrell and Áine Mahon - How philosophy can help our mental wellbeing
Áine Mahon from CEPL along with Emma Farrell discuss ways in which philosophy helps us deal with uncertainty and keep track of what is important in life
Silvia Panizza - Under lockdown in Piedmont
Silvia Panizza from CEPL reflects on how the increasingly severe restrictions in Italy have pushed to the forefront questions about humans' animal nature, the links we form between each other, and the links we have to other animals.
The Irish Times - How can philosophy help us in this time of crisis?
Joe Humphreys from The Irish Times interviews four philosophers about how philosophy can help in dealing with the COVID-19 health crisis, including Vittoria Buffacchi from UCC who is affiliated with CEPL
Buffacchi - Why we trust experts in times of crisis
Vittorio Buffacchi from UCC, who is affiliated with CEPL, writes for RTÉ about why public trust in experts is high during times of crisis.
Silvia Panizza - Philosopher in Italian coronavirus lockdown on how to think positively about isolation
Silvia Panizza writes in The Conversation as part of their Life's Big Questions series about how having the right way to think about self-isolation helps with getting through these difficult and uncertain times.
The Irish Times - Scientific advisers strive to be ‘honest brokers’ in times of crisis
Silvia Thompson of the Irish Times talks with Maria Baghramian of CEPL about what is required for experts to keep trust in experts when society is undertaking such drastic measures to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic.