KAIROS OF THE CORONA PANDEMIC
Time for a True World Political Authority with Moral Credibility?
Keywords:
Common good, coronavirus, kairos, moral and intellectual virtue, United NationsAbstract
At a time when coronavirus has reached pandemic proportions, this paper argues that a trustworthy true world political authority, with reliable moral credibility, is needed now more than ever. It is time to revive the common set of moral principles underlying the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the UN organization itself, in particular, the WHO. In the midst of this new kairos, when the world is faced with an invisible, undiscriminating enemy, the world is forced to come together in a unique way and unite for the common good: the new normal of social distancing may be a new chance for social justice.
References
Arendt, Hannah. The Origins of Totalitarianism. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers: New York, 1973.
Hadot, Pierre. The Veil of Isis: An Essay on the History of the Idea of Nature, tr. Michael Chase. London: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2006.
Ratzinger, Joseph. Eschatology: Death and Eternal Life. Washington D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 1977.
Roy, Arundhati. “Pandemic as a Portal,” The Financial Times of India, 3 April 2020.
