When is lockdown justified?

White, Lucie, van Basshuysen, Philippe and Frisch, Mathias (2022) When is lockdown justified? Philosophy of Medicine, 3 (1). 1 - 22. ISSN 2692-3963

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Abstract

How could the initial, drastic decisions to implement “lockdowns” to control the spread of Covid-19 infections be justifiable, when they were made on the basis of such uncertain evidence? We defend the imposition of lockdowns in some countries by, first, looking at the evidence that undergirded the decision (focusing particularly on the decision-making process in the United Kingdom); second, arguing that this provided sufficient grounds to restrict liberty, given the circumstances; and third, defending the use of poorly empirically constrained epidemiological models as tools that can legitimately guide public policy.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://philmed.pitt.edu/philmed
Additional Information:	© 2022 The Authors
Divisions:	Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
Date Deposited:	03 May 2022 11:12
Last Modified:	12 Dec 2024 02:59
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/115019

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