Ethical-Pandemic Discourse: Searching a Normative Language

Abstract

Discussions of the seemingly never-ending COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic are mainly emotional. Although “truth of the heart” contained in them is existentially accurate and convincing, it is not sufficient for public and productive discourse focused on countering the pandemic. The pandemic situation is an emergency requiring extraordinary measures. As experience shows, in emergency, the authorities’ actions are often lead to unjustified restriction and even direct violation of civil liberties and rights. The discussion of the problems associated with the pandemic needs an adequate normative language. Meanwhile, the fight against the epidemics of viral diseases of recent decades prompted UNESCO and WHO in awareness of the danger of pandemics, to initiate developing normative documents that formulated principles defining the ethical priorities of the authorities' policy in the field of health and public safety. The article specifies the main documents accepted by these organizations, as well as some others related to the issues under discussion and presents the most important ethical principles of activities aimed at preserving people's health. It shows how normative ethics “works” in practice — what is its structure and what ensures the imperative effectiveness of primary moral values, how they are translated into operational attitudes of political and professional activity. Besides guidelines for decision makers and political coordinators, ethical documents are important for they provide the society with criteria for assessment of public authorities and other social agents in their efforts to counter the pandemic. They propose a normative language, using which the society, including media workers, can claim the authorities, referring to universal and approved by the international expert community ethical principles.