In this episode, Jake and Ant look at the ethics of mandatory vaccination, particularly in the context of covid and the year of mandatory lockdowns we've just been through. Arguably, vaccines have clearer benefits and fewer trade-offs than lockdowns, but precedent over the last few decades has been to enshrine people's freedom of choice on the matter (even if their opinions are based on debunked conspiracy theories).

Does the covid crisis make for a different circumstance, particularly given all the recent, mandatory lockdowns? They do after all represent another example of restricting personal freedoms in the interest of public health. We consider the similarities and differences between these interventions which either support or detract from this analogy, exploring concepts of bodily autonomy and human dignity, as well as a brief 'ground-up' view from consequentialist and deontological perspectives.

Sign up to our newsletter here to receive a breakdown of the arguments presented, some memes and updates on future episodes: https://moedt.substack.com/

If you'd like to support the show, checkout our patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/moedt

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It: Welcome to Derry - "The Thing in the Dark"

The Losers' Club: A Stephen King Podcast

Outro

The AI-powered Podcast Player