Three on a Theme: Pandemic Philosophy

As we progress into what seems like the umpteenth month of this pandemic, the long-term effects of what it feels like to be isolated from loved ones, constantly exposed to news reports about death and infection rates are starting to feel quite exhausting. Even though some lockdown measures are slowly thawing (have you tried curbside holds pickup yet?), we are still far from returning to the way things were pre-pandemic. Here are some philosophical texts that deal with some of the psychological, political, and social struggles of being in a pandemic for the long haul.

The Plague by Albert Camus.
What does living through a pandemic and a lockdown reveal about one’s personality, one’s values, and humanity more generally? Although French absurdist philosopher Albert Camus wrote this novel over 50 years ago, the situation it describes and the experiences of its characters are uncannily familiar for anyone who is alive during the COVID-19 pandemic. The story takes place in a town on the Algerian coast that is hit by an outbreak of the bubonic plague and is forced to quarantine itself entirely from the outside world. A dialogue ensues as each of Camus’ characters grapples with their loss of freedom, the ever-present threat of death, fear of the unknown, and a sense of helplessness in the face of the epidemic. Along the way, they help us to feel a little less alone in our thoughts and feelings right now, suggesting some new ways to think about the current situation.

Illness as Metaphor: And, AIDS and Its Metaphors by Susan Sontag.
Illness as Metaphor was a 1978 essay published by public intellectual Susan Sontag in the wake of her first cancer diagnosis. Sontag assesses the different ways that experiencing a physical illness is loaded with social and moral connotations, resulting in a profound commentary on the way that perceptions or representations may shape our experiences of illness perhaps even more strongly than actual physical symptoms might. Later, during the height of the AIDS crisis, Sontag published a follow up essay – AIDS and Its Metaphors – that developed some of these ideas in the wake of the politicized reaction to this deadly disease. These thoughts are especially poignant now during the COVID-19 pandemic, as we are once again experiencing an illness not only as a physical experience, but as a social phenomenon loaded with political and moral connotations.

Endgame by Samuel Beckett.
This absurdist drama captures something about the panicked experience of being trapped indoors with the specter of death and destruction looming overhead. In it, four hapless characters – Hamm, Clov, Nagg, and Nell – struggle with the impending doom of an undisclosed disaster taking place just outside their doors, with monotonous action that seems to be going nowhere and ridiculous expressions of their own misfortune – for example, Nagg and Nell both have no legs and live in trash cans. Beckett captures something about the existential angst of being trapped indoors during a pandemic that readers might find a connection with during this time.

Happy reading!

    ~ Posted by Hannah P.