Ubuntu and COVID-19: A philosophical reflection

The emergence of COVID-19 has entered into and re(dis)arranged every aspect of human life. The pandemic has not only raised concerns about the extent to which hitherto-taken-for-granted human activities are no longer viable, and in some cases have become the enemies of humans, but have also created serious crises in values. There are also new fears, disarranged mental attitude and the need to develop the appropriate critical response that can be applied in helping humanity come to terms with the pandemic and its post-era. This is where Ubuntu comes in, and my interest is premised on three considerations: First, to position the defining concern of our time as the recognition that all nations of the world should contribute, should have a say in issues of global concern. Second, embedded in Ubuntu is a worldview that focuses humanity on their human-humane-essence. Third, Ubuntu will provide the needed anchor if all human activities will not fall prey to a techno-centric world. Highlighting the essential values embodied in Ubuntu is not just to register a philosophical enquiry;it is crucial to a renewed appreciation of philosophy itself as a constant, critical exploration into whatever issues confronting humanity. Certainly, a novel pandemic that is redefining human activities needs philosophy, given its foundational role in addressing fundamental human concerns, wherever they arise. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

Introduction: Humanity and disease discourse

The introduction grounds the understanding of the relationship between humanity and pandemics. Starting from the legitimating of science during the Enlightenment, and tracing its consolidation through the evolution of scientism, the chapter outlines how science and scientific understanding of the world came to dominate human epistemological interaction with the universe. However, this positivistic understanding of the scientific image of the human becomes grossly inadequate within the context of a pandemic, like the COVID-19, that unravels the entire dimensions of humanity, from the physiological to the psychological and from sociological to the moral. This chapter outlines some of the critical issues that the pandemic raised, including racial inequalities, the fake news predicament, the relationship between science and non-science, the nature of scientific truth, and the relationship between science and politics-issues that all the chapters in the volume interrogate in interdisciplinary concert. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023. All rights reserved.

A Contemporary Mohist Reflection on Bioethics in the Post-epidemic Era

In response to various ethical problems that emerged after the 1976 Ebola hemorrhagic fever epidemic, WHO published the book Guidance for Managing Ethical Issues in Infectious Disease Outbreaks in 2016. The content of the book was organized around seven ethical principles, namely, justice, beneficence, benefit, respect for autonomy, freedom, reciprocity, and unity. These seven ethical principles can be used as a framework for countries to develop policies for coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing from contemporary Mohism, this paper reflects on the situation in Taiwan through the lens of these seven ethical principles. It aims to arrive at a Mohist understanding of bioethics and proposes concrete actions for the post-epidemic era.

A urgencia da ortopraxis: condicao para resgatar o humano

The article aims to bring to the discussion the urgency of rescuing the Christian faith more as a way of life [ortho-praxis] than, properly, a set of truths of faith that needs to be preserved [orthodoxy]. It starts from the assumption that the lack of humanity, which is seen today in so many instances, including the Church itself, stems from an experience of religion only as submission to God, who imposes a set of rules and regulations on human beings. customs that need to be fulfilled as a sine qua non condition to "be happy and get to heaven". This relationship, in turn, makes "religious life" happen almost separately from reality, increasing the acute dilemma between faith and life and directly compromising the Christological faith of the God who became man for all. and all save. As a concrete example of this type of experience, the movement Give us back the mass!, which emanated at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, is mentioned.

Surprising pandemic experiences: A confrontation between principle-based and virtue ethics, and a plea for virtue ethics training for medical students and residents. A rudimentary outline of a four-step model.

BACKGROUND: In past years, physicians have, with a certain continuity, reported increasing numbers of burnout, depression and compassion fatigue in their daily practice. These problems were attributed, not only but also, to a loss of public trust and an increase in violent behaviour of patients and family members towards medical professionals in all walks of life. Recently, however, during the breakout of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in 2020, there were public expressions of appreciation and respect for health care workers that almost universally have been assessed as indications of a re-establishment of public trust in physicians and appreciation for the medical professions' commitments. In other words, shared experiences of what society was in need of: the experience of a 'common good'. Those responses during the COVID-19 pandemic increased positive feelings among practicing physicians, such as commitment, solidarity, competency, and experiences concerning obligations for the common good and a sense of belonging to one and the same community for all. Essentially, these responses of raised self-awareness of commitment and solidarity between (potential) patients and medical personal point towards the social importance and power of these values and virtues. This shared domain in ethical sources of behaviour seems to hold a promise of overcoming gaps between the different spheres of doctors and patients. That promise justifies stressing the relevance of this shared domain of Virtue Ethics in the training of physicians. METHODS: In this article, therefore, we shall make a plea for the relevance of Virtue Ethics before proposing an outline of an educational programme for Virtue Ethics training for medical students and residents. Let us start by very briefly presenting on Aristotelian virtues and its relevance to modern medicine in general, and during the current pandemic in particular. RESULTS: We shall follow up this short presentation by a Virtue Ethics Training Model and the respective settings in which it takes place. This model has four steps as follows: (a) include moral character literacy in the formal curriculum; (b) provide ethics role modelling and informal training in moral character in the healthcare setting by senior staff; (c) create and apply regulatory guidelines regarding virtues and rules; and (d) assess success of training by evaluation of moral character of physicians. CONCLUSION: Applying the four-step model may contribute to strengthening the development of moral character in medical students and residents, and decrease the negative consequences of moral distress, burnout and compassion fatigue in health care personnel. In the future, this model should be empirically studied.

SURVEY OF ENERGY CONSUMPTION CHARACTERISTICS ON LARGE-SCALE UNIVERSITY CAMPUSES BEFORE AND AFTER THE SPREAD OF COVID-19

In energy saving operation of buildings, it is important to understand the energy consumption characteristics of university campuses in order to formulate specific energy saving plans. Due to COVID-19 expansion, it is assumed that infection prevention measures such as behavior change of students and ventilation are affecting the energy consumption characteristics. It is necessary to understand the energy consumption characteristics that have changed from the conventional ones. In this study, we analyzed energy consumption data on Meiji university campuses for the three years from 2019 to 2021. we clarify the energy consumption characteristics that have changed due to COVID-19 expansion. © 2023 Architectural Institute of Japan. All rights reserved.

Meaning-Making in the Face of Intersecting Catastrophes: COVID-19 and the Plague of Inequality.

Beyond the enormous toll in illness and death, the COVID-19 pandemic unleashed multiple additional problems (job loss, evictions, hunger) that are disproportionately borne by those who were already vulnerable. In this essay, I reflect about these intersecting catastrophes, which I see as undermining the capacities of many to live meaningful and fulfilling lives. Symptoms of these problems are growing "deaths of despair" due to suicide, drug and alcohol addictions. Drawing on multidisciplinary science, I suggest that these widespread problems cannot be ministered to by focusing only at the individual level. Structural factors, including unfair distributions of resources and opportunities demand attention as well because they are fueling growing disparities between the privileged and the disadvantaged segments of contemporary societies. I examine what meanings and emotions are relevant responses to these troubled times, giving emphasis to the legitimacy of anger and outrage in the face of suffering and injustice. Further insight is sought in historical accounts of longstanding tensions between self-interest and the social contract. Going forward, I suggest that these turbulent times call for greater engagement with and scientific understanding of the arts and humanities in activating the deepest corners of our humanity. Examples from past and current art dealing with human suffering, inequality, and plagues illustrate their possible role in nurturing human capacities to understand, to care, and to act.

Prosociality and health: Identification with all humanity is a replicable predictor of prosocial motivation for health behaviors.

The acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic may have passed, but the pandemic remains a major worldwide health concern that demands continued vigilance. Are there individual differences that predict the motivation to continue to wear masks and to create physical distance in public? Previous research conducted early in the pandemic had suggested that a particular social identity-identification with all humanity-is one underlying factor that contributes to people's cooperation with health behavior guidelines. This highlights that the pandemic is not only an issue to be tackled with the tools of immunology and epidemiology. It also requires the tools from psychology-to measure the representations people have about themselves and others and how these representations drive values and decisions related to health. Here we report work on U.S. respondents that examined whether individuals' level of identification with all humanity predicts their prosocial health behaviors aimed at mitigating the spread of COVID-19. In 3 convergent studies (total N = 1,580), we find that identification with all humanity predicted the prosocial motivation to wear masks and to engage in physical distancing when in public without a mask. The results were obtained while controlling for a host of covariates, including demographics, educational attainment, and Big Five personality dimensions. We find that some people have a marked drive to care for the health of strangers, which is significantly linked to their concern for all humanity rather than being restricted to their care for their community or country. Discussion focuses on this social identification with humanity and its enduring, replicable role in predicting the motivation to engage in prosocial health behaviors. We note key implications for theories in social and developmental psychology as well as for research that may lead to practical applications for lessening the human toll of the current and future pandemics.

Globalization of Business and Humanity: Unprecedented Dimensions

Thepaperexaminestheinfluenceofvariousfactorsontheworldwideeconomywhileconductingbusinessactiviti es.Newmanagementpracticeshaveevolvedinthelastdecade,includingunprecedentedeventslikeCOVID-19pandemic.Globalizationofhumanityhasbecomeaquestionofthecontemporarytime.Mentalpollution,whic hisspreadingoutwildly,mustbepaidattentiontoo.Paceofcertaineconomicactivitiescanbeseeninadwindlingsit uation.Theresearchindicatesavividrelationshipamongmultiplefactorsindifferentorganisationalstructuresfor carryingoutrequiredbusinessactivities.Worldhaswitnessedatransformeddimensionofhumanityalongwithliv elihoodactivities.Foreignpolicyisnolongerunaffectedbythesehappenings. Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.

Sameul Beckett's Vladimir and Estragon in Waiting For Godot as the Representation of Humanity in the Time of the Covid-19 Pandemic

The current study attempts to show how Vladimir and Estragon, who are two of Samuel Beckett's main characters in his play, Waiting for Godot (1952) are meant to represent humanity during the time after World War II. That is, Vladimir and Estragon's waiting for Godot is much like all of humanity's waiting for the pandemic to fade away or disappear. The similarity between the two characters and humanity is studied and analyzed through the lens of postmodernism, and more specifically, existential theories. The study posits how the main aim of the two characters in the play is simply to wait for Godot. Their wait is justified by the relief, safety, and the hope that the best is yet to come displayed by both characters. Thus, the two characters resemble all of humanity waiting for the end of the pandemic, or even for the perfect vaccine to come along that helps prevent people from dying from such a pandemic. The common absurdity in the way these two characters behave while waiting is very much like the absurdity that can also be seen in the everyday life of people who are uncertain of what will happen or what this horrifying pandemic will lead them to. However, this study is different as it highlights how Samuel Beckett's two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, represent humanity during the pandemic and could be seen the same as the people today waiting for a miracle to happen and the hopes of finding a solution for COVID-19.

Assuming the Good and the Bad in Human Nature during Disaster Management

The issue of human nature has not been limited in discussing disaster management during these days. This research aims to examine how human nature has been applied to the field to mitigate the various impacts of disasters. Qualitative content analysis, including inference and thematic layers, is used as the main method in comparing the arbitrariness-based with the duality-based aspect of human nature in terms of international organizations, developed nations, and developing nations. The key finding is that these stakeholders need to shift from the arbitrariness-based to the duality-based aspect. Such transition may lead to embracing effective disaster management, multiple emergency plans, self- and public awareness, psychological support, behavior change, diversity, and education. As a multidisciplinary study, this research comprehensively analyzes the contents of human nature within disaster management.

A breach in the social contract: Limited participation and limited evidence in COVID-19 responses.

Medically trained health professionals have been central to the development of policy responses to the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) crisis. In their multiple roles-as clinicians, public health leaders, members of scientific advisory boards, and also as media pundits and health professionals-they have helped shape discourses of science-based policy options during the first 2 years of the pandemic. In particular, health professionals as a collective voice insisted on the necessity of society-wide measures of social control to curb the morbidity and mortality of the virus. These measures, in turn, informed the political and moral imagination of the political class, the media and the larger public. Yet, as emerging evidence suggests, measures of social control posed a serious and long-term risk for health equity. In this discussion piece on the first 2 years of COVID-related public health directives, we interrogate the tensions that advocating for extensive and protracted measures of social control can pose to the social contract between medicine and society, health equity and democracy. To illustrate these tensions, we discuss the public fallout between vocal members of the OSAT, an ad hoc biomedical-led organization, and the Government of Ontario in light of the disagreement on the scope of 'stay home' orders to manage the third wave of the pandemic in the Spring of 2021 and, more recently, the mass protest against mass-scale public health measures in Ottawa, Canada. We argue that while decision making under emergency conditions is a difficult task, the legitimacy of the social contract between medicine and society depends on medical experts' judicious exercise of public health ethics principles. We offer a set of recommendations for building a more collaborative response to future health crises.

Shared humanity, awareness of socio-economic privilege, and classism during the pandemic as predictors of supporting equal socio-economic policies.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused unemployment to skyrocket, exposed the longstanding inequalities in health care services and working conditions, and mainly affected the poor in different parts of the world. In the current study, we focus on social identity and social class-related factors that are critical during the pandemic to gain insights into what predicts support for policies favoring economic equality in the post-pandemic period. We argue that to the extent that individuals 1) identify with all humanity during the pandemic, 2) are aware of their socio-economic status-based privilege, 3) do not hold classist attitudes, they would support policies favoring economic equality. In Study 1, survey data from 1212 participants in Turkey were analyzed by means of hierarchical linear regression analysis. The findings showed that stronger identification with all humanity, higher awareness of socio-economic status-based privilege, and less endorsement of classist attitudes predict more support for socio-economic equality policies in the post-pandemic period, after controlling for socio-demographic and socio-political characteristics of participants. Study 2 (N = 212) replicated the findings in a different context, namely the U.S. Our findings extend previous studies by showing the importance of a global identity, such as shared human identity, in the ongoing and potentially in the aftermath of the pandemic. In addition, our findings highlight the joint contributions of socio-economic factors such as classist attitudes and awareness of class-based privilege to the support for socio-economic policies.

Commentary – The ServCollab Perspective on Elevating Human Experience

Purpose>This commentary describes ServCollab’s perspective on Elevating Human Experience and urges researchers to join in collaborating on research to reduce suffering and improve human well-being.Design/methodology/approach>This commentary is based on ServCollab’s pioneering approach to building a serving humanity logic and growing service research capacity to work on the hardest service systems problems humanity faces.Findings>ServCollab’s ongoing efforts to Elevate the Human Experience are described. First, ServCollab seeks to develop a serving humanity logic. Second, ServCollab seeks to coalesce divergent perspectives on service. Third, ServCollab seeks to build a serving humanity movement capable of addressing complex service systems problems.Practical implications>Practical ideas are offered for serving humanity through collaboration.Social implications>Because human life depends on service systems, this ServCollab commentary has broad application to all human experience.Originality/value>This commentary offers a unique approach to building collaborative service research projects capable of addressing service inclusion, service language and climate change.

The Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) scale: its psychometric properties and associations with help-seeking during COVID-19.

The Identification With All Humanity (IWAH) scale was designed to measure the extent to which an individual identifies oneself with all human beings. The current research aimed to conduct the validation of IWAH in a Chinese population and its convergent validity, as well as test the implications of IWAH in associations with help-seeking behaviour during COVID-19. A serial of three studies was conducted from September 1st 2020 to the end of October 2020. The series of studies included Study 1- Exploring the dimensions of the IWAH scale with a sample of 2,881 participants, Study 2- Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the Chinese IWAH dimensions with a separate sample of 6,667 participants, and Study 3- Role of the IWAH in the COVID-19 pandemic with a sample of 9,046 participants. Study 1 found the Chinese version of the IWAH scale to be a two-dimensional construct, with factor 1 - Bond with Humanity and factor 2 - Human Kinship. Study 2 confirmed the two-factor construct as found in Study 1. It also showed positive relations between IWAH and moral judgement, collectivism, nature connectedness, and negative relations with callousness, and having anxiety and depressive symptoms. Study 3 found that IWAH was negatively related to fear of COVID-19 and positively related to the likeliness of help-seeking. This is the first research to test the factorial structure of the IWAH scale in a Chinese population, with the adaptation showing good psychometric properties. The implication of IWAH on fear of COVID-19 and help-seeking provided further understanding of the possible practical value of IWAH during times of global stressful life events. Furthermore, study 3 is the first to explore how IWAH relates to anxiety, depression, and callousness.

Philosophy in times of Covid-19 and post-pandemic: towards a new humanity

The objective of this paper is to promote a new humanity after the dramatic experience of Covid-19. With a methodology that deconstructs some philosophical considerations about the pandemic, the result, that it is necessary the stimulation of values and attitudes that lead to cooperation and recognition, is reached if a significant humanization of people, societies and cultures wants to be achieved. In this way, it is concluded that a human revolution is urgently needed that goes hand in hand with Philosophy, thanks to which dialogue, communicative rationality, intersubjectivity and the collective are revalued together with simplicity and everyday life.

Existential Positive Psychology (EPP): A Positive Tool for Healing Existential Anxieties in South Africa during, and after, the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Globally, humanity is in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic; thus, we question our individual, and collective, behaviours. Long periods of lockdown and ever-escalating death rates have found people asking questions such as "What is the point of carrying on?" This is exacerbated by the world's burgeoning ecological crisis. Humanity is beginning to wonder if it belongs on the planet when its footprint has caused such rampant destruction to forests, oceans, the animal kingdom, and other ecological entities. Existential positive psychology (EPP) seeks to uncover truths about humankind's existence, survival, and, thus, meaning in life. We, as people, need to make sense of our reason for being as we struggle with our anxieties and seek to become authentic. This discussion paper contends that EPP can help humanity find the courage to challenge, and heal, its existential anxieties, namely, death, isolation, freedom, and meaningless, in order to find individual and group identities, as well as overall mental wellness (or happiness), specifically in a South African context, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The writings of Wong, who works within the framework of EPP, and those of Frankl, a holocaust survivor, whose work falls within the scope of humanistic and existential psychology and Asante's Afrocentrism, which is a philosophical framework grounded on the African continent, are used to support this argument.

The Positive Impact of Pandemics in Two Selected Speculative Narratives

This article examines Stephen Soderbergh’s film Contagion (2011) and Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven (2014) as a critique of the uncivilized culture of our modern society, which depends on fragile connections and lack of solidarity. Although global pandemics annihilate the world and shatter families, this study demonstrates how they are depicted as a positive tool of change, serving as a force that exposes then undermines the deep-rooted cultural flaws in society and finally offers lessons that help in rebuilding a new civilized world based on human values. Such representation of pandemics in these selected narratives is allegorical, functioning as a mirror that reflects our COVID-19 reality, teaching moral lessons, and contributing to our understanding of the crisis and how we think and act in response. © 2022 ACADEMY PUBLICATION.