The Philosophers Magazine
F M Kamm on comparing deaths.
When the number of people who have died of COVID-19 in the U.S. reached 500,000 special notice was taken of this great tragedy. As a way of helping people appreciate how enormous an event this was, some commentators thought it would help to compare it to other events that involved a comparable number of people losing their lives. For example, it was compared to all the U.S lives lost on the battlefield in World Wars 1 and II and the Vietnam War (or World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam). Such comparisons raise questions, concerning dimensions of comparison, some of which are about degrees of harm, wrong, and meaningfulness which are considered in this essay. (Since the focus in the comparison was on the number of soldiers who died rather the number of other people affected by their deaths, this discussion will also focus on the people who die in a pan
Not since President Obama s speech to graduating cadets of the class of 2014 at West Point have there been remarks to a military academy as atonal as those Vice President Harris just delivered to the midshipmen at Annapolis. Ms. Harris talked to our
The trailblazing work of Melinda French Gates, a philanthropist, advocate for the rights of women and girls, and fighter for gender equity, was the focus of Radcliffe Day on Friday afternoon, Harvard Radcliffe Institute’s annual event to honor a leader who has devoted his or her life to excellence, opportunity, and service.
Suzannah Omonuk learned about slavery as a child growing up in Uganda. But her history books were “whitewashed,” she said, sheltering her “from the true horrors” and ignoring the ways slavery’s toxic effects rippled throughout the U.S. and beyond.
“In Uganda it was different because it almost felt like this was a terrible thing that happened in the world, but it’s over now, like we all can breathe a sigh of relief,” said Omonuk, a master’s candidate at Harvard Divinity School. “But coming here I realized: No, it’s still continuing, albeit in a different manner.”