Episode 97, 'Lessons from Lockdown' with Vittorio Bufacchi (Part II - Further Analysis and Discussion)
The Panpsycast Philosophy Podcast
Jack Symes | Andrew Horton, Oliver Marley, and Rose de Castellane
4.8 • 612 Ratings
🗓️ 23 May 2021
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Introduction
Over a year has passed since COVID-19 forced the world to shut its doors. Millions of lives have been lost, and millions more have undergone radical change. At times, many of us have wished to see loved ones, friends, and colleagues; we've longed to play sports, attend shows, and travel the world. We've hoped that everything can return to normal. But should they?
What if this pandemic has highlighted issues in our societies that have been ignored or marginalised for too long? What if normal made the pandemic worse than it needed to be, and what if normal is part of the problem? According to philosopher Vittorio Bufacchi, this is precisely the case: everything must change.
Vittorio Bufacchi is a Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at University College Cork, specialising in questions concerning social injustice, human rights, and political violence. As we shall see, Bufacchi's work demonstrates that philosophy can and should engage with the most pressing social issues of our time. Philosophy, says Bufacchi, can navigate us towards better ideas and a better world; and it is during times of crisis that we need it most.
Contents
Part I. The Pandemic
Part II. Further Analysis and Discussion
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Pan Scicast |
| 0:07.9 | Part 2 Further analyses and discussion. |
| 0:25.1 | Continuing our discussion from last week on your forthcoming book, |
| 0:28.4 | Everything Must Change, Philosophical Lessons from lockdown. |
| 0:31.0 | You discuss the idea that the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to a civil disorder, and moreover, |
| 0:36.0 | and I quote, there is also the added risk that the |
| 0:38.8 | economy collapses and it will bring down civil society with it. Why do you think that the |
| 0:43.7 | pandemic might lead us into a society-less state of nature? And what do you think this post-society |
| 0:48.8 | world would actually look like? Or is that perhaps overestimating the claim? |
| 0:53.8 | Slightly overestimating. |
| 0:55.7 | I mean, obviously, at the time when I was writing the book, we didn't know how long it was |
| 1:01.4 | going to take for the pandemic to end. |
| 1:03.7 | You know, there were no vaccines and the economy was slowing down everywhere. |
| 1:08.7 | And I would just say, you know, it is not impossible to think of a scenario where, you know, |
| 1:14.7 | this is the end of it, but not that I believe that. |
| 1:17.2 | But I was interested in, and this is where Hobbs comes in, I was interested in the fact that |
| 1:22.5 | it was a moment of crisis and how do people respond during crisis? |
| 1:27.4 | And this is a crisis of life and death, people respond during crisis? |
| 1:27.5 | And this is a crisis of life and death, |
| 1:29.8 | which is very much what Hobbes talks about. |
| 1:32.2 | And I think Hobbs is right when he says that when you are |
| 1:37.1 | with your back against the wall, |
... |
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