University of Helsinki
At the next Perspectives on Science seminar on Monday 4.10., Lucie White (Leibniz University Hannover) will give a presentation titled “Is Vaccine Refusal Free Riding?”. The seminar takes place in Zoom from 14:15 to 15:45.
Perspectives on Science is a weekly research seminar which brings together experts from science studies and philosophy of science. It is organized by TINT – Centre for Philosophy of Social Science at the University of Helsinki. More information about the seminar here.
To join the seminar, please sign up here.
Abstract:
How we should deal with the problem of COVID-19 vaccine refusal is contingent on whether vaccine refusal is a “free rider” problem. Based on a recent article suggesting that vaccine refusers should not be regarded as classic free riders, I will delve into the connections between vaccine refusal and free riding. I will suggest that vaccine refusers are like free riders in one important sense – they are refusing to contribute to something (herd immunity) that they are benefitting from. But vaccine refusers are arguably not like free riders in that they do not agree that COVID-19 herd immunity is a
public good, and that their being vaccinated would be a reasonable contribution towards this good. It might thus be difficult to incentivize vaccination in the way that we might try to incentivize classic free riders to contribute to a public good. Taken together, these arguments constitute a tentative case for vaccine mandates. But in order to determine whether, and under what circumstances, vaccine mandates might be appropriate and effective policy, we must also distinguish between “anti-vaxxers” and the “vaccine hesitant”.
Author bio:
Lucie is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Leibniz University Hannover. She’ll be taking up an assistant professorship at the University of Utrecht in November. She mainly focuses on bioethics, broadly conceived, and at the moment, she’s working on a couple of projects related to COVID-19 and public policy.