No Death Is in Vain: Philosophy Facing the Pandemic

2021/10/13

When the new coronavirus first began to spread, I don't think many people took it seriously. Nearly two years have passed since then. There is no sign of this epidemic ending. While there were times when a glimmer of light appeared as vaccines were developed and the number of vaccinated people gradually increased, the rise in new infections shows no sign of stopping.

This book was inspired by a sentence I wrote in response to a survey about the COVID-19 pandemic conducted by the Research Centers and Institutes for Future Philosophy last year (June 2020): "Even the agony of death... is not experienced in vain."

What I wanted to talk about in this book is simple. It is to talk about the thoughts of the medieval saint Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226). He was a contemporary of Shinran (1173–1262) in Japan's Kamakura period. His philosophy is simple. All things in this world—living creatures, natural objects like mountains, air, and stars—are all God's creations, and they are all sisters and brothers. Not just things. Illness and hardship, and even death, are also sisters.

Death has been viewed as a challenge to be overcome. The Russian thinker Fyodorov believed that death exists for humans because humans are ethically imperfect. He saw the death of the individual as necessary for humans to become more perfect. He believed that if humans became ethically perfect, they would no longer need to die and would become immortal. He dreamed of an era where humans would go into space in rockets and live outside the Earth for the time when the Earth overflows with people after becoming immortal, even before the invention of the airplane.

One could laugh at such teachings as mere pipe dreams. But is that really okay? The story of salvation from global warming and the extinction of humanity by the young girl Greta Thunberg is by no means far from such a story.

To confront an epidemic, it is necessary to prepare policy-level measures that affect society as a whole, as well as specific medical sciences prevention policies and treatment systems. However, since it is difficult to eliminate COVID-19 entirely, persistent patience and hope for the future are necessary to face it for a long time. Do we not need an ethics for survival? I have poured those feelings into this book. I sincerely hope for a swift end to this for the sake of future generations.

No Death Is in Vain: Philosophy Facing the Pandemic

Shiro Yamauchi

Research Centers and Institutes for Future Philosophy

256 pages, 1,980 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and titles are as of the time of publication.