The Ontological Nature and Cause of COVID-19: A Philosophical Analysis

In this chapter, the ontological nature and cause of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is investigated. The outbreak of the novel COVID-19, coupled with the fact that a global pandemic occurs virtually every century, has brought to the fore the need to interrogate the ontological nature and cause of the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been different conspiracy theories flying all over the globe about COVID-19 since its outbreak in Wuhan city of China and subsequent global spread. One matter of considerable public concern about the theories is the uncorroborated claim that the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is manufactured in a laboratory at the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a biological weapon. This implies that the coronavirus is an artificial creation rather than a natural occurrence. Against this background, it is argued that the coronavirus is a natural phenomenon and that the resultant COVID-19, like other previous pandemics, is a privation of being. This chapter draws heavily on metaphysical works of Aristotle, Saint Augustine, and Thomas Aquinas to show that four types of cause, namely, material cause, formal cause, efficient cause, and final cause, are ontological components of every being in the natural world and that COVID-19 is not a being per se but rather a privation of being or good in a being. It is contended further that COVID-19 lacks a formal cause, and thus it cannot exist in isolation from a being (a human person or an animal) that has a formal cause. COVID-19 and other pandemics originally occur when a being is corrupted or its good nature is deprived of. It is concluded that to forestall further pandemic outbreak, humanity must stop upsetting and disrupting the natural order of things by desisting from eating certain animals and birds that are unfit for human consumption, or eating foods contaminated by such animals and birds. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Is Real Hell Preferable to Imaginary Paradise?

Each chapter takes as its object of analysis either a pair (for example, Bayle and Malebranche, Leibniz and King, Voltaire and the Deists) or an individual (Hume, Rousseau, Kant, Schopenhauer) who participated in the tradition of theodicean thinking or its critique. Taking the present conditions of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Black Lives Matter Uprisings in the spring and summer of 2020, and the conceptual framings of tracking-capitalism, ecological collapse, and civil war as his subject matter, he paints a pessimistic picture of the futureless futures and impersonal dominations of the contemporary globalized world. [...]to what extent was it even conceived as a real problem?" (29) Whereas optimists are only interested in the problem of evil in its relationship with good (or God), van der Lugt's value-oriented pessimists reject the necessity of alignment, instead taking reality as it is, discontent, dread, and all. Through King and Liebniz the reader is provided a foundation for Enlightenment optimism that adjusts the Augustinian thesis of responsibility. While King's contribution is given its due, van der Lugt defines optimism by Leibniz's foundation of modern theodicy in his assertion that "we live in 'the best of all possible worlds'" (69): that there is, at the very least, a justification of evil in the world in relation to the good—either through theodicy in that the evil serves the good, or through alignment in that the good outweighs the evil. [...]with the question of whether life is worth living, van der Lugt explains that "the deeper point [schopenhauer] is trying to make […] is that even if the goods of life vastly outweigh the evils, even so, this does nothing to justify existence" (348).

Rethinking God's Omnibenevolence and Omnipotence in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic: An African Perspective

The reality and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic question God's omnibenevolence and omnipotence. Two questions that stare us in the face are a) is God omnibenevolent given the current reality? b) is God omnipotent? This paper addresses these questions from the African place using the African theory of duality and its underlying logic, Ezumezu. We argue that the reality of the COVID-19 pandemic and its adverse effects (such as death, hardship and social isolation) do not negate God's benevolence and powerfulness. We assert that while the current reality cannot sustain a defence of the traditional theistic qualities of omnipotence and omnibenevolence, the notions of a powerful and benevolent God are not necessarily undermined by the reality of Covid-19. In the light of the African theory of duality and Ezumezu logic, we contend that the COVID-19 pandemic brings out the argument that inherent in God's benevolence is wickedness and inherent in God's powerfulness is weakness © 2022, Filosofia Theoretica.All Rights Reserved.

JESUS'S SELF- UNDERSTANDING AND SELF-REALISATION AS THE SUFFERING SERVANT: SOME CURRENT THEOLOGICAL EMPHASES

In the article, the author discusses the Biblical foundations of the discourse on the suffering servant, starting from prophet Isaiah up until the awareness Jesus has about himself as the servant who has to suffer a lot. Although Jesus has power, he shows that power in the most excellent way by serving and not by dominating others. Such Jesus's awareness and way of acting becomes the fundamental principle of discernment of his disciples, especially in the times of pandemics and other natural-social crises. The article is divided into three parts. In the first part, entitled "Biblical Foundations of the Discourse on Jesus as the Servant", the author analyses Jesus's understanding of his own mission as the one who, although having power, decides to serve. The special character of that power manifests itself precisely through diakonia. The second part, entitled "Jesus as the Suffering Servant" analyses synthetically the Old Testament discourse on the suffering servant of Jahve, whose description coincides in many ways with the event of Jesus Christ, the Anointed One in whom every kind of suffering, especially the kind associated with pandemics, although still remaining mysterious, gains a new perspective. The third part, entitled "Co-Suffering and Com-Passion: Some Theological-Ethical Emphases", attempts to actualise the Christian view on the mystery of evil and the character of Jesus as a co-sufferer, who suffers with human being through his consoling presence and solidarity. Reflection on this logic of Jesus prompted the author to start developing theology of compassion in the context of the current pandemics. The emphasis is, therefore, put on the understanding of human suffering in light of the Paschal event, whose logic opposes every form of dolorism and helps one understand the value of life beyond earthly-temporal boundaries.

SUFFERING AND THE QUESTION OF GOD: A READING OF LEVINAS IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

This article aims to present how the philosopher Emmanuel Levinas understands the issues of suffering and evil in the world, hardships frequently considered as obstacles to the belief in God. Breaking away from the logic of theodicies, the French-Lithuanian philosopher developed original and instigating perspectives on these themes, placing them in an eminently ethical domain. It concerns an ethic that escapes reciprocity, in a context of asymmetry, with the granting of absolute priority to the other man. Such reflections are particularly relevant in the dramatic scenario established by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has given rise to suffering, death, and several uncertainties, among which the narrative of God. The new coronavirus has sparked a crisis of global dimensions, which raises the need for a new civilizational paradigm, prioritizing principles such as cooperation, human solidarity and ethical responsibility towards others, a horizon in which Levinas' conceptions are included.

The Place and Meaning of Suffering in Evangelical Theology

The Evangelical view of God is rooted in Orthodox Theology. The article posits that it is within the classical understanding of God that Christians can find their best resources for dealing with the problem of evil from theological, practical and even philosophical perspectives. The present suffering that COVID-19 has brought to the world requires us to answer the question, ‘what on earth is God doing?’ With over two million officially recorded deaths in the world and over 63000 deaths in South Africa, the present suffering requires an investigation on one of the most serious objections to a belief in a loving God. In this article, attention is given to how Evangelicals understand the implications, meaning and relevance of suffering. In developing a theology and meaning of suffering, I propose the approach that is rooted in the classical understanding of God is best suited to address this dilemma. Focusing on the works of Augustine, and Evangelical theologians, an Evangelical Theology on the meaning and relevance of human suffering which includes suffering as non-punitive and punitive is developed by concluding that God allows evil and punishment for development and discipline. © 2021. All Rights Reserved.

When a Pandemic Strikes the Vineyard: Searching for the Meaning of Pastoral Care During COVID-19.

A student asked, "What is pastoral care amid the COVID-19 pandemic?" The student and the professor embarked on a conversational journey to explore the layers of suffering during the pandemic that prompted the question and to interpret the neoliberal characteristics of the relational pains in the experience. Through the participatory case study of this conversation, this article puts the pandemic experience of the student in dialogue with the Matthean passage on the vineyard workers to expose the limits of the neoliberal rationality that feeds into the suffering during the pandemic. The ensuing theological reflection culminates in a conversation about the understanding of the Matthean evil eye, Emmanuel Levinas's understanding of the face, and Bruce Roger-Vaughn's concept of third-order suffering. The reflection concludes with an answer to the question about pastoral care during COVID-19.

Transformations of the axiological paradigm during a crisis

The article analyzes the transformations in the value system of the Bulgarians during the covid crisis. The thesis is substantiated that people should construct their value axis on the highest value life, at the expense of other important and sustainable values such as communication, freedom, connecting individuals and perhaps the most important value for modern man-free choice. The empirical material of the present study contains 200 associative questionnaires. Half of the surveys analyzed in this study were conducted in the first months of the crisis March-April 2020, and the other half-October the same year. Based on the associations of the words life, good, choice, evil, significant conclusions have been made for the transformation of some values into anti-values and vice versa. © 2021, Jan Stanislav Institute of Slavistics, Slovak Committee of Slavists. All rights reserved.

Coronavirus: does its activation of archetypes of evil cause added psychological suffering?

Fear and grief caused by the pandemic have produced a powerful unconscious narrative in the collective psyche that the coronavirus is driven by an innately evil, and possibly divine, force. The resulting archetypal dimension of fear causes an extra layer of psychological suffering in individuals. This paper discusses how and why this narrative was created and why it is so compelling by looking at 1) the myth-making nature of the human psyche, 2) the psychodynamics of fear that drive the narrative, 3) the properties of the coronavirus and the pandemic that activate negative poles of some archetypes, in particular, archetypes of evil, and 4) asking how analytical psychology can help ease psychological suffering caused by these negative narratives, where one possibility is to invoke the transcendent function. The author's personal experiences as both biochemist and analytical psychologist elucidate how the transcendent function can promote healing.

La peur et la douleur causées par la pandémie ont produit un puissant récit inconscient dans la psyché collective, à savoir que le coronavirus est dirigé par une force intrinsèquement maléfique ou éventuellement divine. La dimension archétypale de peur qui en résulte produit une couche supplémentaire de douleur psychologique chez les individus. Cet article étudie comment et pourquoi ce récit est créé et pourquoi il est si convaincant. L'article procède en examinant 1) la nature de la psyché humaine qui tend à fabriquer des mythes, 2) les dynamiques psychanalytiques de la peur qui motivent le récit, 3) les propriétés du coronavirus et de la pandémie qui activent les pôles négatifs de certains archétypes, et en particulier l'archétype du mal, et 4) comment la psychologie analytique peut aider à soulager la douleur psychologique produite par ces récits négatifs. Une possibilité est d'invoquer la fonction transcendante. Les expériences personnelles de l'auteur à la fois en tant que biochimiste et en tant que psychologue analytique éclairent comment la fonction transcendante peut promouvoir la guérison.

El miedo y el dolor causado por la pandemia han producido una poderosa narrativa inconsciente en la psique colectiva, significando que el coronavirus es producido por una fuerza divina, innata del mal. La resultante dimensión arquetípica del miedo causa un estrato extra de sufrimiento psicológico en los individuos. El presente trabajo examina cómo y porqué ha sido creada esta narrativa y porqué resulta tan atractiva, prestando atención a: 1) la naturaleza creadora de mitos de la psique humana, 2) los psico-dinamismos del miedo que impulsan dicha narrativa, 3) las propiedades del coronavirus y de la pandemia que activan los polos negativos de ciertos arquetipos, en particular arquetipos del mal, y 4) pregunta cómo la psicología analítica puede ayudar a aliviar el sufrimiento psicológico causado por estas narrativas negativas, donde una posibilidad es invocar la función trascendente. Las experiencias personales de la autora como bioquímica y psicóloga analítica elucidan como la función trascendente puede promover la curación.

Moral decision-making and support for safety procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given that individual differences influence virus-mitigating behaviors and the COVID-19 pandemic posed new moral dilemmas for individuals to resolve, across three studies (N = 704), we assessed how masculine honor beliefs (MHB), beliefs in pure good (BPG), evil (BPE), and the dark triad (DT) influence COVID-19 moral decision-making. Specifically, we analyzed moral decision-making at the microlevel (i.e., individual- and familial-level; Study 1), in decisions with (hypothetical) life-or-death consequences (Study 2), and at the macrolevel (i.e., nationwide virus-mitigation efforts; Study 3). In all studies, participants completed the four individual difference scales and rated their pandemic attitudes on Likert-type agreement scales, and resolved various moral dilemmas in Studies 2 and 3. Consistent with our hypotheses, individuals reported more virus-mitigation efforts in order to protect their families than themselves. In terms of hypothetical life-or-death and nationwide decisions, MHB, BPE, and the DT predicted more confidence and social motivations, whereas BPG predicted more distress. This research has implications for moral decision-making at varying degrees of severity during the COVID-19 pandemic.