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Updated: Dec 21, 2025

Determining Viral Disinfection Efficacy of Hot Water Laundering
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Utilitarianism and the pandemic.

Julian Savulescu1,2,3,4, Ingmar Persson1,5, Dominic Wilkinson1,2,6

  • 1Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Bioethics
|May 21, 2020
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

During pandemics, prioritizing the many is essential. Utilitarianism offers ethical guidance for critical decisions like ventilator triage and lockdown policies to maximize overall good and minimize harm.

Keywords:
COVID-19pandemic ethicsresource allocationutilitarianism

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Area of Science:

  • Medical Ethics
  • Public Health Policy
  • Moral Philosophy

Background:

  • Pandemics necessitate difficult ethical choices due to resource scarcity.
  • The principle of egalitarianism is challenged by the need to prioritize.
  • Failure to prioritize can lead to preventable loss of life.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the application of utilitarianism in pandemic-related ethical dilemmas.
  • To provide a framework for decision-making in public health crises.
  • To analyze the ethical considerations of ventilator triage and lockdown strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Review of utilitarian moral theory.
  • Application of utilitarian principles to pandemic scenarios.
  • Analysis of policy implications for resource allocation and social restrictions.

Main Results:

  • Utilitarianism provides a framework for maximizing overall good during pandemics.
  • It offers guidance on critical decisions such as ventilator allocation.
  • It aids in balancing public health interventions with societal well-being.

Conclusions:

  • Utilitarianism can inform crucial pandemic response strategies.
  • Societies must understand the ethical trade-offs involved in prioritizing.
  • A clear understanding of values is necessary when making difficult choices.