The dirty little secret of expertise—and of the modern era—is that we expect expertise to rescue us from our disagreements about the good life. We hope that an expanding economic pie (made possible by economic analysis), lengthening lifetimes (promoted by medical science), and expanding liberties will make tradeoffs unnecessary, or at least less urgent. Even now we nurture the hope that expertise will spare us difficult choices. Perhaps someone will develop a vaccine in record time. Perhaps the economy will bounce back after an unprecedented flood of liquidity. Perhaps we can go back to having more of everything. It is too late to avoid tradeoffs. We should not expect to be excused from having to deliberate about and make them. How then do we proceed? To put health, economic activity, and civil liberties into perspective, we must discuss (however obliquely) what end they serve. We must deliberate about the good life and how any policy promotes or impedes it. What does it mean for us to act well as a nation in the situation we now face?
AUGUST 9, 2020BY ANDREW M. YUENGERT