Intellektuele en mag : 'n ondersoek na die rol wat filosofie gespeel het in die openbare debat rondom Covid-19

Abstract

A few months into the pandemic, the philosopher Giorgio Agamben argued that the measures implemented by governments, including social distancing and the wearing of masks, were irrational. According to him, the coronavirus was not very different from the flu, and was really an opportunity for authorities to create a state of exception. This provoked a number of reactions, especially by the philosophers Jean-Luc Nancy and Benjamin Bratton, as well as Jacques Rancière. What is perhaps more striking is that Agamben s polemic also reached a wider audience, specifically the South African philosopher Bert Olivier and the Belgian/South African philosopher Joeri Schrijvers. This reminded me of the conversation between Gilles Deleuze and Michel Foucault, entitled Intellectuals and Power (1977), in which they reflect on what an intellectual s roles and responsibilities are and how they are linked to the exercise of power. Although their arguments are more indirect than I have presented them here, they are nonetheless useful. With this in mind, I ask in this mini-dissertation: 1) What should the role of intellectuals be in public debate? 2) How can we think philosophically about the relationship between intellectuals and power in such debates? 3) How do these questions relate to the role of philosophy in thinking about events such as the pandemic?