Pandemic as a Challenge for Future of Humanity: Philosophical and Religious Studies Aspects

by Yevhen Kharkovshchenko¹, Olena Predko² and Vitalii Turenko^3
1 Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Kyiv, Ukraine)
² Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Kyiv, Ukraine)
³ Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (Kyiv, Ukraine)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29202/fhi/14/2
Received: 25 August 2020 / Accepted: 30 September 2020 / Published: 3 November 2020

In the article, the phenomenon of a pandemic is conceptualized as a challenge for humanity’s future in the context of philosophical and religious studies discourse. It is proved that the philosophical discourse considers the phenomenon of a pandemic as a potential threat to human freedom since, thanks to “biopolitics,” the authorities can manipulate the epidemiological situation in the context of limiting the expression of will and ensuring rights. At the same time, it has been established that the pandemic is a challenge for a new understanding of a person’s lifestyle and relationship to the Other. It is revealed that in the religious context, the pandemic is viewed as a threat and challenge to humanity in the context of the further activities of religious organizations. Consequently, the pandemic prompts religious organizations to act in new ways in relation to their supporters, including creating new, innovative forms of interaction. Therefore, among religious studies scholars and theologians, a discussion arose about the possible introduction of online sacraments to ensure the safety of both society in general and a specific person.

 

Keywords: pandemic, future of humanity, philosophical discourse, religious studies discourse, COVID-19, biopolitics, religion life

Agamben, Giorgio (2020a) Distanziamento sociale. Available online: https://www.quodlibet.it/giorgio-agamben-distanziamento-sociale

 

---

Agamben, Giorgio (2020b) L’invenzione di un’epidemia. Available online: https://www.quodlibet.it/giorgio-agamben-l-invenzione-di-un-epidemia

---

Belanenko, Dmytro, Inna Volosevych, and Dmytro Savchuk (2020) Public opinion polls on the situation in the country at the time pandemic COVID-19. Available online: https://sapiens.com.ua/publications/socpol-research/114/IS_Coronavirus_31.03.pdf

---

Canetti, Elias (1978) Crowds and power. Translation of: Masse Und Macht. Reprint Originally published: New York: Seabury Press.

---

Gorevoy, Dmytro (2020) Is it possible to take communion online? How did the OCU react to this? Available online: https://cerkvarium.org/spetstemy/tserkva-i-koronavirus/chimozhlivo-prichastya-onlajn-yak-na-tse-vidreaguvali-v-seredovishchi-ptsu

---

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on religion (2020) Available online: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_on_religion

---

Kobo, Abe (1988) The Face of Another. Available online: https://royallib.com/book/abe_kobo/chugoe_litso.html

---

Lukanova, Veronika (2019) Pandemic phenomenon: background, essence, dynamics (sociophilosophical analysis), Dissertation for the degree of Candidate of Philosophical Sciences in the specialty 09.00.03 — Social Philosophy and Philosophy of History, Dnipro, Oles Honchar Dnipro National University.

---

Lunkin, Roman (2020) The future of European identity against the background of the coronavirus crisis, Analytical Notes of the Institute of Economics of the Russian Academy of Sciences, No. 10(193) Available online: http://www.instituteofeurope.ru/images/uploads/analitika/2020/an193.pdf

---

Manoussakis, John (2020) The City is Sick: Sophocles, Thucydides, Camus at the Times of Coronavirus. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/42201882/THE_CITY_IS_SICK_Sophocles_Thucydides_Camus_at_the_Times_of_Coronavirus

---

Preciado, Paul (2020) La conjuration des losers. Available online: https://www.liberation.fr/debats/2020/03/27/la-conjuration-deslosers_1783349

---

Religious Fundamentalism in the Age of Pandemic (2020) Ed. Nina Käsehage, Transcript Verlag.

---

Rozin, Vadim (2020) The Pandemic, the Crisis of Modernity, and the Need for a New Semantic Project of Civilization. Philosophy and Cosmology, Volume 25, 32-42. https://doi.org/10.29202/phil-cosm/25/3

---

Shchotkina, Katerina (2020) Fight for the flock. Why the UOC-MP calls its parishioners to churches during the quarantine. Available online: https://risu.ua/borba-za-pastvupochemu-upc-mp-zovet-svoih-prihozhan-v-hramy-vo-vremya-karantina_n103401

---

Tan, Yusheng (2020) Toward a law of healthy peoples: From the Perspective of the Right to Health. Future Human Image, Volume 13, 113-125. https://doi.org/10.29202/fhi/13/12

---

Tang, Wendao, and Xuelu Qiu (2020) Construction of Law-based Government in the Context of Counteraction to COVID-19. Ukrainian Policymaker, Volume 6, 74-84. https://doi.org/10.29202/up/6/8

---

Vyhovskyi, Leonid (2020) Coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19) as a factor in the process of modernization of Ukrainian Orthodoxy. Available online: http://www.univer.km.ua/doc/tezi/t_Vigovskiy_L.A.pdf

---

Zhang, Tingting (2020) The Criminal Law Regulation of The Behavior of Fabricating and Deliberately Disseminating False Information of Epidemic. Ukrainian Policymaker, Volume 6, 104-113. https://doi.org/10.29202/up/6/10

---

Žižek, Slavoj (2020) Monitor and punish? Yes, please! Available online: https://thephilosophicalsalon.com/monitor-and-punish-yes-please/

Kharkovshchenko, Yevhen, Olena Predko and Vitalii Turenko (2020) Pandemic as a Challenge for Future of Humanity: Philosophical and Religious Studies Aspects. Future Human Image, Volume 14, 13-20. https://doi.org/10.29202/fhi/14/2