Presentation |
The response to the profound crisis posed by the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has demanded the best commitment from the various agents of society and called upon researchers from the various fields of knowledge to seek solutions to the challenges we face and to reflect on the impact of the pandemic on the various dimensions of human life. In this context, the Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia (RPF) intends to contribute to the philosophical reflection on the challenges posed by the pandemic, publishing original essays that address, from different philosophical perspectives, problematics associated with the crisis we are facing.
The disease caused by the Covid-19 is much more than a mere biological phenomenon, it is a phenomenon that is experienced by concrete human beings in its psychological, social, existential, and spiritual dimensions. Because of the complex nature of this phenomenon, social distance measures that have been adopted to battle the pandemic have had a disruptive impact on the core of the human experience, characterized by embodied social interactions. In this scenario, new urgent questions regarding the spiritual dimension of the human person, the meaning of life and death, and the human connection with an ultimate source of meaning have been emerging. Philosophy can make an important contribution to the understanding and interpretation of these complex experiences.
Among the many problems associated with the pandemic, ethical issues have occupied a prominent place. For example, what are the ethical criteria that should guide health professionals when facing with the need to decide who has access to basic life support? How to manage the tension between the imperative to protect the most vulnerable members of society and the need to guarantee the economic and financial sustainability of countries, organizations, and families? Important questions also arise in the field of bioethics.
At the political level, the response to the pandemic has led to the suspension, albeit temporary, of many of the practices that govern the life of democratic societies, with the limitation of human rights and freedoms. The adoption of this type of measures demands an in-depth reflection on the role of the State and the difficulty to balance the protection of the citizen’s health and the respect for individual rights and liberties. Reflection on this issue is particularly urgent in face of new threats posed by the emerging populisms and nationalisms.
The social consequences of the pandemic are particularly profound. The situation we are experiencing has already had a visible impact on the way we work, the way we relate to one another, the way we communicate, teach, and learn. The digitalization of the society has been significantly enhanced in this period and privacy issues have become even more pressing. During the confinement, many citizens begun working remotely, and classrooms were moved to virtual rooms. All these experiences raise psychological, social, and anthropological issues that can and should also be addressed by philosophers.
In the current pandemic context, science has assumed a major role. Despite the efforts of teams of researchers around the world to find a treatment and to develop vaccines for Covid-19, which at the beginning exceeded the general expectations, in the course of time, public opinion has been confronted with the impression that science was taking too long to solve the health problem in a definitive way, which could result in a new perception of the limits and possibilities of science. The uncertainty associated with many of the predictions regarding the evolution of the pandemic poses questions about the limitations of quantitative models in health sciences and about the epistemological limits of multivariable analysis. The problem of discerning between causality and correlation also takes on a new relevance.
It is within this complex framework, that RPF offers this special volume, with twenty five philosophical contributions that have been distributed among five sections.
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Contents |
Róbson Ramos dos Reis, João Carlos Onofre Pinto, Bruno Nobre, Andreas Gonçalves Lind, Ricardo Barroso Batista, “Thinking the Pandemic: Philosophical Perspectives,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 477–86, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0477.
I. Challenging Metaphysics in Pandemic Times
John Milbank, “Between Catastrophes: God, Nature and Humanity,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 489–500, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0489.
Jean-Marc Ferry and Magali Croset-Calisto, “L’amour de la vie face à la peur de la mort. Une réflexion sur la crise sanitaire et sa portée métaphysique,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 501–12, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0501.
Eli Kramer and Marta Faustino, “Reconstructing Professional Philosophy: Lessons from Philosophy as a Way of Life During a Time of Crises,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 513–46, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0513.
Andreas Gonçalves Lind and Bruno Nobre, “«Resistir» em Tempos de Pandemia,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 547–62, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0547.
II. Justice and Political Challenges of the Pandemic
Enrica Caraffini, “Democracy and Borderline Cases: Covid-19 Emergency,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 565–78, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0565.
Agostino Cera, “Pandemic Capital or ‘The New Gravity,’” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 579–96, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0579.
Ricardo Mejía Fernández, “Implicaciones biopolíticas de la Covid-19: Del pesimismo a la parresia,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 597–616, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0597.
Antonio Di Chiro, “Filosofia, politica e società ai tempi della pandemia. Agamben e la «paranoia della ragione»,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 617–42, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0617.
Ricardo Tavares da Silva, “Theories of Justice Applied to the Pandemic: The Case of Vaccine Distribution,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 643–56, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0643.
Daniel Eugene Sharp, “Einwanderung in Zeiten von Corona,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 657–88, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0657.
III. Ethical Issues of the Pandemic
Fausto Corvino, “The Covid-19 Pandemic and Climate Change: Some Lessons Learned on Individual Ethics and Social Justice,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 691–714, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0691.
Sarah Horton, “When the Face Becomes a Carrier: Biopower, Levinas’s Ethics, and Contagion,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 715–32, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0715.
Robby Mandiangu Ngofo, “Le masque en temps de la Covid-19 : ce qu’il donne à penser,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 733–50, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0733.
Benjamin Hole, “Radically Hopeful Thinking for a Wicked Covid-19 Pandemic Problem,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 751–68, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0751.
Jose Luis Guerrero Quiñones, “Covid-19 and Our Duty to Die,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 769–90, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0769.
IV. Existential Meditations on the Pandemic: Vulnerability, Death and the Meaning of Life
Julián Bohórquez-Carvajal, “Actitudes culturales ante la enfermedad y la muerte. Perspectivas desde la pandemia global,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 793–818, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0793.
Maria Chiara De Nardo, “Antropo-etica della vulnerabilità al tempo del Covid-19,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 819–40, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0819.
Maria Teresa Russo, “La vulnerabilità come ‘ritorno del rimosso’ e la nuova domanda di senso durante la pandemia da Covid-19,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 841–58, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0841.
Roger López, “What the Plague Tells Me and What It Can’t: Moral Lessons from Two Novels,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 859–82, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0859.
Luis Fernando Cardona Suárez, “El escotoma cultural en tiempos de pandemia. El empobrecimiento de la función simbólica del hombre,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 883–914, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0883.
V. The Emotions of the Pandemic
Flavio Williges, “Em direção à compreensão das emoções na pandemia: a solidão e seu significado epistêmico,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 917–36, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0917.
Marcelo Vieira Lopes, “What Is It to Lose Trust? Covid-19 Pandemic, Extended Minds and Shared Feelings,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 937–58, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0937.
Noelia Bueno Gómez, “Life Uprooted. Social and Moral Challenges of Woe,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 959–73, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0959.
Veronika Bogdanova and Kirill Rezvushkin, “Philosophical Practice as a Way to Address the Students’ Existential Problems during the Pandemic,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 979–94, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0979.
Tea Lobo, “The Ethics of Social Distance and Proximity in the City,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 995–1004, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_0995.
Varia
Alfredo Gatto, “La modernità cartesiana: un paradigma di interpretazione,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1007–26, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1007.
Gonçalo Marcelo, “Paul Ricœur: traços do religioso numa filosofia sem absoluto,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1027–56, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1027.
Juan Manuel Alba Bermúdez, “Aportes de la filosofía jurídica al concepto persona,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1057–72, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1057.
In Memoriam
José Henrique Silveira de Brito, “In Memoriam. Roque de Aguiar Pereira Cabral, SJ,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1075–92, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1075.
Book Reviews
Andreas Gonçalves Lind, “Book Review - Esquirol, Josep Maria. A Resistência Íntima. Ensaio de uma Filosofia da Proximidade. Trad. Jorge Melícias. Lisboa: Edições 70, 2020,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1095–98, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1095.
Ricardo Barroso Batista, “Book Review - Bernstein, Sara, e Tyron Goldschmidt, eds. Non-Being: New Essays on the Metaphysics of Non-Existence. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1099–1106, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1099.
Leandro Bertoncello, “Book Review - Baschet, Jérôme. Corpos e Almas: Uma História da Pessoa na Idade Média. Tradução de Erica Ziegler. São Leopoldo: Unisinos, 2019,” Revista Portuguesa de Filosofia 77, no. 2–3 (2021): 1107–16, https://doi.org/10.17990/RPF/2021_77_2_1107.
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