Plague Ethics: from the Black Death to COVID-19

Catalog description

When plagues happen, they seem to change everything, including our sense of what is right. This course examines the challenge plagues pose to ethics. We begin with a study of how the “black death” transformed morality in medieval and early modern Europe. Then, we examine the ethical questions plague raises through a series of historical case studies. We conclude by exploring how bioethics has confronted plague, with a focus on the recent case of COVID-19. Throughout the semester, brief “literary interludes” will emphasize the seemingly paradoxical opportunities that plague brings to reexamine what it means to live ethically. (Offered occasionally)