The Failure of Schools under Covid-19 Policies in Germany – what it means and how it could happen. A social-hermeneutical ethics perspective

Authors

  • Ole Döring Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago Wellington

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-1690.21.03

Keywords:

Covid-19, Ethics, Philosophy of Culture, Children‘s Health, Salutogenesis, Democracy

Abstract

This essay describes the impact of COVID-19 related policies on the democratic fabric of German society, focusing the situation of children. It applies a methodology of ethics for salutogenesis, exploring, how policies and underlying motifs align with doing the right things for the right reasons. Five key areas are analyzed in the social-political specter of power of health-related judgement, connecting psychology, politics, economy, academia and culture. The discussion finds that the crisis reveals grave and basic flaws in the texture of democratic culture that could be healed by serious measures to reinvigorate the spirit of the German Constitution.

Author Biography

Ole Döring, Department of Primary Health Care and General Practice at the University of Otago Wellington

Prof. Dr. Ole Doering, is a German Philosopher and Sinologist, with special expertise in Applied Hermeneutics, Philosophy of Culture and Technology and Health Ethics. He has been working between China and Germany since 1995. He organized scientific networks in inter-disciplinary areas of ethics and new technologies between Europe and China, such as KBE, BIONET and SIGENET. Currently he is Full Professor in Comparative Culture Studies at the Foreign Studies College of Hunan Shifan University, Changsha, China, Associate Professor in Philosophie at Institute for Technology Futures of KIT. Moreover, he is founder and Co-Chair of Berlin Institute for Global Health, an academic think-tank for policy advice. He received numerous honorary scientific appointments and awards, including 2020: elected member, Steering Committee, Global Health Hub Germany (2020), invited member, International Independent Advisory Board, International Conference on Genomics (ICG-15, Wuhan, 2020), Associate Professor, Peking University, Department for Global Health (2019), distinguished Guest Professor, Changchun University, Department for Cyber-Culture Studies (2019); Series Editor: „Chinese Perspectives: Philosophy“ at ibidem (Hannover) and Social Sciences Academic Press (Beijing), starting 2018, and the William Evans Fellow for Bioethics, Bioethics Center, University of Otago, New Zealand (2017). In 2009, he received the Outstanding Contributions Award in Medical Ethics, by Chinese Yixue yu zhexue („Medicine and Philosophy“) Journal. His various publications include 11 books, 50 book chapters, 26 journal articles. He is a regular writer for German and Chinese media. Besides his vast academic work, he serves as policy adviser and holds a company offering business consulting.

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Published

2021-01-01

How to Cite

Döring, O. (2021). The Failure of Schools under Covid-19 Policies in Germany – what it means and how it could happen. A social-hermeneutical ethics perspective. Władza Sądzenia, (21), 16–31. https://doi.org/10.18778/2300-1690.21.03

Issue

No. 21 (2021)

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Articles

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