The Coronavirus as a Revenge Effect: The Pandemic from the Perspective of Philosophy of Technique (May 2022)
The 2020 coronavirus pandemic is a phenomenon of great interest from the point of view of philosophy of technique. In this paper, we propose an interpretation of its causes and its current and foreseeable effects through a dual theoretical framework. On the one hand, we will use Edward Tenner’s concept of the revenge effect, which refers to the phenomenon by which a technique produces unexpected consequences that cancel its objective. In this case, modern mobility techniques, by spreading the disease on a global scale, have produced the opposite effect, that is, the mobility limitations of lockdowns. On the other hand, we will embrace Jacques Ellul’s philosophy of technique, which shows how many problems produced by modern technique, such as the current pandemic, have an ultimate tendency toward the establishment of a centralized and authoritarian organization of humanity not compatible with the fundamental rights of liberal democracies. The conclusion drawn from these elements will be that the way the pandemic has been tackled supports Ellul’s prediction about the establishment of such an organization.
...MoreSimilar Citations
Article
Ursula Plesner;
Lise Justesen;
(January 2022)
The Double Darkness of Digitalization: Shaping Digital-ready Legislation to Reshape the Conditions for Public-sector Digitalization
(/isis/citation/CBB648275984/)
Article
Julia M. Hildebrand;
Stephanie Sodero;
(March 2021)
Pandemic Drones: Promises and Perils
(/isis/citation/CBB383774280/)
Article
Wesley Shrum;
John Aggrey;
Andre Campos;
Janaina Pamplona da Costa;
Jan Joseph;
Pablo Kreimer;
Rhiannon Kroeger;
Leandro Rodriguez Medina;
Paige Miller;
Antony Palackal;
Ana Pandal de la Peza;
Abou Traore;
(October 2020)
Who’s afraid of Ebola? Epidemic fires and locative fears in the Information Age
(/isis/citation/CBB307916719/)
Article
Brian Dolan;
(2020)
It Wasn't Supposed to Be a Coronavirus: The Quest for an Influenza A(h5n1)-Derived Vaccine and the Limits of Pandemic Preparedness
(/isis/citation/CBB603005256/)
Article
Geoffrey W. Rice;
(2020)
How reminders of the 1918–19 pandemic helped Australia and New Zealand respond to COVID-19
(/isis/citation/CBB418629553/)
Article
Sam Robinson;
Megan Baumhammer;
Lea Beiermann;
Daniel Belteki;
Amy C. Chambers;
Kelcey Gibbons;
Edward Guimont;
Kathryn Heffner;
Emma-Louise Hill;
Jemma Houghton;
Daniella Mccahey;
Sarah Qidwai;
Charlotte Sleigh;
Nicola Sugden;
James Sumner;
(2020)
Innovation in a Crisis: Rethinking Conferences and Scholarship in a Pandemic and Climate Emergency
(/isis/citation/CBB331249049/)
Article
Weiqiang Lin;
(March 2020)
Aeromobilities in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic
(/isis/citation/CBB673775850/)
Article
Christopher J. Phillips;
(2021)
The Curve
(/isis/citation/CBB041283409/)
Article
Poliana Maia;
Rosária Justi;
Monique Santos;
(2021)
Aspects About Science in the Context of Production and Communication of Knowledge of COVID-19
(/isis/citation/CBB033270554/)
Article
Henry M. Cowles;
Chitra Ramalingam;
(2021)
Essays & Reviews: Introduction
(/isis/citation/CBB659543242/)
Article
Kenneth Pomeranz;
(2020)
Afterword: Lives Interrupted, Trends Continued?
(/isis/citation/CBB459754529/)
Article
Kate McDonald;
(2020)
Olympic Recoveries
(/isis/citation/CBB028444617/)
Article
Nükhet Varlık;
(2020)
Rethinking the History of Plague in the Time of Covid-19
(/isis/citation/CBB776966901/)
Article
Kyle Harper;
(2020)
Germs, genomes, and global history in the time of COVID-19
(/isis/citation/CBB422578756/)
Article
Warwick Anderson;
(April 2021)
The model crisis, or how to have critical promiscuity in the time of Covid-19
(/isis/citation/CBB248429145/)
Article
Mary Augusta Brazelton;
(2020)
Viral Reflections: Placing China in Global Health Histories
(/isis/citation/CBB279381939/)
Article
Jaeho Kang;
(2020)
The Media Spectacle of a Techno-City: COVID-19 and the South Korean Experience of the State of Emergency
(/isis/citation/CBB536204483/)
Article
The Editors;
(April 2022)
How Curators and Archivists Responded to the Pandemic
(/isis/citation/CBB511966233/)
Article
John Harriss;
(2020)
“Responding to an Epidemic Requires a Compassionate State”: How Has the Indian State Been Doing in the Time of COVID-19?
(/isis/citation/CBB425512020/)
Article
Franklin G. Miller;
(2021)
Liberty and Protection of Society During a Pandemic: Revisiting John Stuart Mill
(/isis/citation/CBB564910589/)
Be the first to comment!