Blame is in the eye of the beholder: Beyond an ethics of hubris and shame in the time of COVID-19

Abstract

As misinformation and disinformation spread more rapidly and widely than ever before, individuals have been encouraged to be critical consumers of all received information. At the heart of this point of contention is the question of where responsibility and fault should lie. This framing and dynamic have taken a new form during the COVID-19 pandemic: a risk that the narrative of victim-blaming may overcome narratives of care and responsibility, at all levels and across national contexts. This begs the question of which ethical assumptions individuals and institutions will build upon in navigating the crisis and developing policies and best practices for everyday life, as well as for what will come next?