Mask-Wearing during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Theoretical Analysis from the Perspective of Public Health Ethics

Abstract

Do we have the right to wear masks during an infectious disease pandemic? If so, what is the underlying philosophical justification for this? During the COVID-19 pandemic, most people wore masks. Should the government be able to intervene to enforce mask wearing? It should be noted that the government’s encouragement to wear masks does not mean that people are encouraged to ignore them. In the field of public health ethics, many current debates boil down to establishing a balance between “individual freedom” and “the public good”. However, a clear definition of “the public good” has yet to emerge, which can make this debate difficult. Based on our philosophical analysis, we propose the following as a new right in the field of public health ethics: the “right to mask for self-protection”. Based on our proposed “right to mask for self-protection”, we offer a justification for the argument that all people have the right to wear a mask during an infectious disease pandemic or endemic.