A Bioethical Enquiry into the Relation between Knowledge and Health in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Crisis

The paper examines the Corona crisis from an ethical-philosophical point of view for the purpose of providing orientation, referring in particular to Aristotle and Kant. Granted, they are not virologists, they are not members of any ethics council, they do not make profits from payments by institutions close to the pharmaceutical industry, and any state institution does not pay them either. Neither of them is suspected of telling anyone what one wants to hear. However, they both provide views that can help us better understand the situation today and work out solutions for the future. By referring to them, philosophy can also fulfil its task of analysing contemporary issues on fundamental questions of humanity and our communal life. First, I will ask: (1) where do we stand? I will shed light on seven aspects without claiming to be exhaustive. This is followed by (2) the question of how we got into the current situation. Finally, (3) the question of what lessons we should learn will be discussed in seven steps.