Philosopher Marcel Verweij has studied issues related to public health and healthy nutrition for more than three decades. ‘Government policy for public health gives rise to many ethical issues. Consider, for example, immunization programmes. How should the government respond to parents refusing to vaccinate their children? Such issues must be considered carefully, for example, by analyzing the matter from different ethical perspectives. Philosophers also pay attention to basic concepts that we often use in everyday language and also in science. How should we understand health? What does wellbeing mean? Once you have a clear understanding of these concepts, you can research and maybe even measure them and study how we may improve health and wellbeing in our society.’
Fear of the coronavirus may drive people to exclude others, call for extreme measures or refuse to face reality. Corona affects not only individuals, but fear also undermines the whole of society. This is why we must solve the crisis as a community, Wageningen philosophers state. In addition to balanced…