Responsibility and Co-Responsibility in Light of COVID-19 and Education for Sustainability through an Aristotelian Lens

Abstract

This article focuses on the two key concepts relevant for today's COVID-19 pandemic: responsibility and co-responsibility, and their relationship to education for sustainability. The two concepts are approached through an Aristotelian lens that opposes the instrumentalist thinking which dominates current discourses in education. Current perceptions of co-responsibility, or collective responsibility, often fail to place these concepts in the ethical context of the common good. The COVID-19 crisis has challenged our ways of being and behaving and at the same time has uncovered many weaknesses, shortcomings, omissions, and vulnerabilities facing humanity, especially in our health and education systems. Exploring the antecedents of responsibility and co-responsibility, such as compassion/empathy, self-awareness, solidarity, accountability, prudence, and locus of control, these two concepts are shown to be two sides of the same coin: without the prefix co-, responsibility is meaningless. In this context, education for sustainability in the post-COVID-19 era is called to play a critical role as an agent of change for building a more sustainable society. It is argued that sustainability is a co-responsibility related to the impact that individuals and collectivities exert on their surroundings in social, economic, environmental, and cultural terms. Building and cultivating responsibility and co-responsibility based on engagement and dialogue is crucial because it not only affects the possible ways to manage pandemic risks, but also enables us to transform current unsustainable practices.