One consequence of the lockdowns that many countries have introduced in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is that people have become more vulnerable to loneliness. In this contribution, I argue that even if this does not render lockdowns unjustified, it is morally incumbent upon states to make reasonable efforts to protect their residents from loneliness for as long as their social confinement measures remain in place. Without attempting to provide an exhaustive list of ways in which this might be done, I identify four broad measures that I believe many, if not most, states ought to take. These require states to (i) help ensure that people have affordable access to the internet, as well as opportunities for learning how to use this medium so as that they can digitally connect to others; (ii) help people to have harmonious and rewarding intimate relationships; and try to make (iii) non-human companionship as well as (iv) various non-social solutions to loneliness widely available.
What just societies owe to non-citizen immigrants is a controversial question. This paper considers three accounts of the requirements of distributive justice for non-citizens to determine what they might suggest about the provision of publicly funded health care to pregnant undocumented immigrants. These accounts are compared to locate an overlapping consensus on the duty of the state to provide care to pregnant undocumented immigrants. The aim of this paper is not to take a substantive position on the "right" prenatal policy, but rather to explore the moral space that this issue occupies and suggest that real moral progress can be achieved through the consistent application of shared values.
Crises illustrate the value of digital connectedness. When our physical routines are disrupted, having alternative options to connect with others is important. Yet there are clear divisions in access to the internet, and in the distribution of the skills required to take advantage of the internet. I argue that the COVID-19 pandemic is but one example of a more general idea; that everyone has a moral claim to internet access. We ought to use this opportunity to address the continued inequities in internet access and use amongst our population.
In this article, I challenge the risk assessment approach to the ethics of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) as HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM). Traditional risk assessment focuses on the medical risks and benefits of using medical technologies, but this emphasizes certain risks and benefits over others. The medical risks of using PrEP are presently being overblown and its social and political risks are being overlooked. By recontextualizing risk within the history of HIV and considering the lived experiences of MSM with sex, HIV, and HIV prevention, we can broaden the present risk assessment framework to include all of the relevant risks involved in using PrEP. We can also better situate risk as one of several moral concepts, including trust and solidarity, which move us towards a more nuanced analysis of the social and political effects of PrEP on the relationships and communities of MSM.