THE MORAL FAILING OF NOT WEARING A MASK

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The right to not wear a mask in public during this coronavirus pandemic is typically offered as a political and legal argument. Politics and the law, however, serve a higher purpose—human flourishing. And human flourishing is argued in the moral arena, where the priories are to promote welfare, wellbeing and dignity; to avoid causing harm; to pursue good over bad, right over wrong, and virtue over vice; and to attend to moral values of fairness, compassion, integrity, respect, responsibility, and courage, to name only a few. Normative moral theories advise and guide us in this. They tell us what we ought to do; how we ought to conduct ourselves, behave, and interact with others; what choices we ought to consider; and what decisions we ought to make. While arguments for not wearing a mask may be reasonable in the political and legal arenas, they fail in the moral arena.

Three normative theories are relevant in making this judgment—deontology, consequentialism and virtue ethics.

Deontology

Deontology is objectively focused on an act or action. The morally correct course of action is one that coincides with and enables us to fulfil our duties, responsibilities and obligations. These may be expressed as rules, regulations, procedures, standards of practices, policy, and law, as they apply to particular circumstances or more broadly to the society in which we live. 

Where there is policy (or other) regarding the wearing of masks, the morally correct thing to do, in a deontological tradition, is to wear the mask (and wear it properly, I might add). The absence of a policy (or other) does not mean it is morally correct to avoid wearing a mask, however.

Consequentialism

Consequentialism represents a group of theories that focus on the potential consequences or outcomes of an act, action, behaviour, choice, or decision. It is morally correct to maximize potential good consequences and outcomes over those which may be bad. The most well-known consequentialist theory is utilitarianism, which promotes maximizing the amount of good for the most people.

There is more potential good than bad in wearing a mask, for the greatest number of people (e.g. slowing the spread of COVID and FLU, minimizing the viral load to which one might be exposed). The potential harm of wearing a mask, for most people, is inconvenience and discomfort. Therefore, it is morally correct to wear the mask in a consequentialist tradition.

Virtue Ethics

Virtue ethics, developed initially by Aristotle, focuses on one’s character. Character is the sum of traits such as honesty, respect, fairness, trustworthiness, courage, diligence, patience, and many others, as well as those considered undesirable. This theory proposes that a person of good character behaves in ways that are good and right, and a person who behaves in ways that are good and right is of good character. The reverse, regarding bad character and bad and wrong behaviours, is also true. In this tradition, it is morally correct to cultivate, practice and perform positive character traits and to avoid negative ones.

Virtue ethics, therefore, would advise the wearing of masks, because it is caring, respectful and responsible, while not wearing a mask is selfish, inconsiderate and unsympathetic.

A Pluralistic Ethical Framework

While each theory, on its own, is informative, each also has limitations. Deontology fails to consider and address contextual and circumstantial factors. Consequentialism relies on assumptions, projections and best guesses. Virtue ethics invites internal contradictions, when, for example, honesty and loyalty or equality and equity are in conflict. Hence, most of us employ a pluralistic ethical framework in our daily lives. In other words, we consciously or subconsciously consider our options in regard to more than one normative theory. Our capacity to do so does not rely on theoretical or philosophical knowledge, but rather social and emotional maturity and moral wisdom, which are nurtured by influential adults who help us learn, grow and develop throughout childhood and adolescence.

While you might argue the specifics of my analysis above, normative morality is overwhelmingly advising and guiding us to wear a mask in public during this pandemic. Refusing to wear a mask in public, or intentionally not wearing one correctly, is a moral failure, which is proving to diminish the welfare, wellbeing and flourishing of humanity. Therefore, I believe the political and legal arguments used to justify not wearing masks in public should be reframed as moral arguments. In the moral arena, they are exposed for how bad, wrong and incorrect they truly are.