New Episode: Would it be ethically justifiable to make the covid vaccine mandatory?
The Morality of Everyday Things
Hey everyone - episode 10 is out now! Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Anchor and more.
Would it be ethically justifiable to make the covid vaccine mandatory?
In 2020, governments around the world wielded their authority to impose lockdowns: mandatory (or at least strongly encouraged) restrictions on our freedom of movement. A vaccine race was also underway and at the end of the year, the first vaccines started to get regulatory approval.
Given lockdowns and vaccinations both serve the common interest of our public health, why is it justifiable to impose mandatory lockdowns but not mandatory vaccinations? Why has the debate over mandatory vaccination largely been off the table?
In this episode, Jake and Ant unpick the analogy in great detail. The logic of argument by analogy goes like this: if X is sufficiently similar to Y, and Y is justified, then X must be justified.
A good analogy is both familiar and representative. Lockdowns are very familiar to us all (thanks 2020) - and since lockdowns and vaccines are targeting the same pandemic, they are very representative. So are there ways in which the two are not sufficiently similar?
A lot seems to hinge around the fact that vaccines are a medical intervention - and to remove people’s choice would impinge on the sanctity of the human body and therefore people’s human dignity. But the same arguments could be levied against lockdown too. And what is dignity exactly - is it as powerful a concept as it seems to be?
Tell us what you think! Do you think it’s justifiable for the vaccine to be mandatory?
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Until next time!
Jake & Ant