Thread by @cdutilhnovaes

1/ Thread on some puzzling reactions by philosophers to the #COVID2019 pandemic.
Many people reacted with shock and horror to the piece by Giorgio Agamben piece of Feb 26, calling the pandemic a 'unmotivated emergency': positionswebsite.org/giorgio-agambe…

2/ One such reaction by philosopher @a_n_a_berg can be found here, where she describes Agamben's interventions as 'symptomatic of theory’s collapse into paranoia': chronicle.com/article/Giorgi…

3/ Another puzzling position is articulated by Dutch philosopher (and former GP) Marli Huijer, in an interview with @SiccodeKnecht: 'We must accept that the risk of death is part of life'. She also questions the severity of measures being taken.
scienceguide.nl/2020/03/we-moe…

4/ While puzzling and even infuriating, I do think there's a small lesson to be learned from these interventions. Both authors (Agamben and Huijer) are openly influenced by Foucaultian ideas (biopower, discipline)-as it so happens I'm reading a lot of Foucault right now...

5/ One familiar reading of Foucault is that he's 'anti-science': (official) science is an instrument of power to subjugate and control. In the current scenario, this is a very dangerous position to advocate, as however imperfect, scientific knowledge is our best bet to save...

6/ ...lives. But a more sophisticated reading of Foucault quickly shows that what he's saying does not simply amount to science-skepticism. One reading that I am sympathetic with is that he formulates a critique of naive Enlightenment ideals of human control & power over nature.

7/ What the pandemic is showing is that Foucault is dead right on this one; much as we try, we are *not* the masters of Earth, who shape and decide on the course of our lives at will. Philosopher @jehsmith makes this point eloquently here: thepointmag.com/examined-life/…

8/ I'm basically an Enlightenment person myself, and as such have been vocal on my support for stricter measures like lockdowns and more testing. Ultimately, I still very much want to trust that scientific knowledge will get us out of this mess. But I also embrace...

9/...the sobering reminder of the limits of scientific knowledge to control our lives & keep us safe. While we've learned so much over the last 100 years, we're still dealing with a pandemic not that different from the Spanish flu (incidentally, my great-grandfather died of it).

10/ Specifically about #COVID2019, there's still so much we don't know that basically we're operating in the dark here regarding models and predictions-as well articulated by philosophers @nescio13 & @ewinsberg here: newstatesman.com/politics/econo…

11/ But that doesn't mean the only option left is throwing in the towel & embracing nihilism. I want us to keep fighting, but at the meta-level this is an opportunity to reflect on the limits of (scientific) control over human lives & accept that we are not the masters of nature.