The Two Wrong Reasoning and the Covid Pandemic
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Keywords

Argumentation schemes
COVID-19,
Two Wrongs Reasoning

How to Cite

Groarke , L., & Tindale, C. (2023). The Two Wrong Reasoning and the Covid Pandemic. Teoria E Critica Della Regolazione Sociale / Theory and Criticism of Social Regulation, 1(24), 33-46. Retrieved from https://mimesisjournals.com/ojs/index.php/tcrs/article/view/2497

Abstract

The crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a number of imposed measures that in other circumstances would be judged wrong or unreasonable. What allegedly warranted them was the urgency of the risks posed by COVID-19 and the belief that there were no alternative measures available. In this paper, we examine this kind of reasoning at different stages of the pandemic. We do so by developing a specific version of the argumentation scheme ‘Two Wrongs Reasoning’ which we apply to COVID-19 arguments. We conclude that the situations that were addressed were not as straightforward as many authorities and critics suggested – and that their reasoning about them often failed to recognize the complexity of two wrongs arguing; the nuanced balancing of wrongs that it requires; and the requirement that one seriously consider possible alternatives to any exceptional measures an argument proposes.

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