When is Lockdown Justified?

Philosophy of Medicine 3 (1):1-22 (2022)
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Abstract

How could the initial, drastic decisions to implement “lockdowns” to control the spread of COVID-19 infections be justifiable, when they were made on the basis of such uncertain evidence? We defend the imposition of lockdowns in some countries by first, and focusing on the UK, looking at the evidence that undergirded the decision, second, arguing that this provided us with sufficient grounds to restrict liberty given the circumstances, and third, defending the use of poorly-empirically-constrained epidemiological models as tools that can legitimately guide public policy.

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Author Profiles

Lucie White
Utrecht University
Mathias Frisch
Universität Hannover

References found in this work

How the laws of physics lie.Nancy Cartwright - 1983 - New York: Oxford University Press.
A core precautionary principle.Stephen M. Gardiner - 2006 - Journal of Political Philosophy 14 (1):33–60.
A libertarian case for mandatory vaccination.Jason Brennan - 2018 - Journal of Medical Ethics 44 (1):37-43.
Were Lockdowns Justified? A Return to the Facts and Evidence.Philippe van Basshuysen & Lucie White - 2021 - Kennedy Institute of Ethics Journal 31 (4):405-428.

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