McMaster Philosophy Talks: Week 3 - Pondering the Pandemic - #WeAreInThisTogether, Right?

What does it mean? Perhaps this slogan represents a way of thinking about each other and our responses and responsibilities to ‘this.’ But what is the ‘this’ that we are allegedly ‘in together’? COVID-19, systemic racism, structural inequality ... ? Whatever ‘this’ may mean, #WeAreInThisTogether presupposes a belief that as members of a political community we have a responsibility to protect and promote our ‘common interests’. Consider the slogan #DefundThePolice. What does this mean? Does it align with the ideal of protecting and promoting our 'common interests' too? In political theory, engaging in cooperative action for the sake of our common interests is an ideal called solidarity. In this talk Phlosophy Professors James Sikkema and Stefan Sciaraffa will explore what solidarity is, why it’s important, and how we may go about realizing it. Additional Reading: Jean-Jacques Roussea, "On the Origin of Inequality" and "The Social Contract" https://www.marxists.org/reference/su... https://www.marxists.org/reference/su... John Rawls, "A Theory of Justice" selections https://philosophyintrocourse.files.w... Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on The Common Good and Collective Responsibility https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/co... https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/co...