Vaccine mandates have been one of the most contentious issues during the covid-19 pandemic. In this episode of "What Would Hayek Say" we tackle the matter head-on, examining the complexity of the debate on its philosophical, legal, medical, and political levels. Mixed messaging and a tendency to move the goalposts have characterized much of the debate. On the other hand, it's understandable that there will always be some confusion and the need to update our expectations and estimations in light of new information about both the virus, its variants, and the vaccines' effectiveness. As with so many political and politicized matters today, one of the unfortunate casualties of this debate has been any sense of civility, particularly in regards to those who are demonized as unscientific or incorrigible for being sceptical about the vaccine or its mandate. Especially tragic has been the tendency of politicians and intellectuals to sow division among the population in the name of unity. Time will tell how things will change - or not - once more people are vaccinated. But for Hayek, whose warnings about scientism and the pretense of knowledge ring truer today than ever, it's imperative we introduce some humility into our public debate; for humility is the great virtue of science and a liberal society.

Journal of Infectious Diseases study:

https://academic.oup.com/jid/article/...

Byram W. Bridle article:

https://theconversation.com/5-factors...

***

Scott B. Nelson is Research and Strategy Advisor at the Austrian Economics Center and Hayek Institut in Vienna, Austria. He is author of "Tragedy and History: The German Influence on Raymond Aron's Political Thought". His next book is a work of political philosophy on the Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero. Nelson heads the reading group The Vienna Symposium (https://vienna-symposium.com).