Hastings Cent Rep. 2020 May;50(3):50-53. doi: 10.1002/hast.1132.
When confronted by the novel ethical challenges posed by a pandemic, it is helpful to turn to history for guidance and direction. In this essay, the author revisits Thucydides's description of the Plague of Athens from The Peloponnesian War as he considers the New York State Task Force on Life and the Law's 2015 guidelines on ventilator allocation. Confronted by the exigencies of the Covid-19 surge that struck New York, he questions the task force's decision not to give any degree of preference to health care workers who might become ill. He posits that they are due a compensatory ethic and some deference given the risks they have assumed, often with inadequate protective gear. Reflecting on his ambivalence, he asks if his change of heart reflects the impact of experiential learning or the erosion of nomos-or governing norms-described by Thucydides when the plague struck Athens.
当面对大流行带来的全新伦理挑战时，借鉴历史可以为我们提供指导。在本文中，作者重读了修昔底德在《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》中对雅典瘟疫的描述，同时探讨了纽约州生命与法律特别工作组（New York State Task Force on Life and the Law）在 2015 年发布的呼吸机分配指南。面对席卷纽约的新冠疫情，作者对该工作组决定不给可能患病的医护人员任何优先权提出质疑。作者认为，鉴于医护人员所承担的风险，他们应该得到补偿性伦理和一定程度的尊重，而这些医护人员往往缺乏足够的防护设备。在反思自己的矛盾心理时，作者不禁自问，他的态度转变是源于经验学习的影响，还是修昔底德所描述的、瘟疫袭击雅典时“nomos”（即统治规范）的侵蚀。
