Tag: shelter at home

Everyday ethics: When should we lift the lockdown?

The moral question at issue here is enormous: “How much is a human life worth?”

If we are willing to trade risk to human life for expected economic benefit, it requires us to engage in a sort of analysis employed by utilitarians – moral philosophers who believe in promoting the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of people – and also to put a price on human health. This may sound shocking, but people do this every day: Insurance actuaries, military strategists and traffic planners routinely face difficult questions on how much a human life will “cost.”

But if we consider it moral to keep cars on the roads, while also understanding that approximately 40,000 people die in traffic accidents in the U.S. every year, we had better be confident in our calculations. According to the utilitarian, if the numbers change, the moral calculus could flip. Continue reading.

No matter the testing availability, Minnesotans urged to stay home

The message from state health officials is loud and clear.

The message from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) on Wednesday was loud and clear: stay home if you’re sick. No ifs, ands, or buts about it – and stay home and follow community mitigation advice even if you’re feeling fine. If possible, work from home.

MDH Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann has made it clear that slowing the spread of the coronavirus in Minnesota is largely in the hands of Minnesotans, and the pandemic needs to be taken seriously.

“People are reacting at several different extremes on the spectrum. We have a number of people who are taking this very seriously … but there are a number of people that think this is too much and overkill,” Ehresmann said during Wednesday’s conference call. Continue reading.