The COVID-19 crisis has brought a number of interesting questions in political philosophy to the fore. What are the limits and ethical role of the state? What is the importance of personal liberty and collective interest? Is state surveillance justified?

For this year’s Annual LEQS Lecture, Gerard Delanty discusses six philosophical responses to the crisis that can give us perspective on these questions.

Gerard Delanty is Professor of Sociology and Social & Political Thought at the University of Sussex, Brighton.

Sonja Avlijaš (@sonjaavlijas) is Research Associate at Sciences Po, Paris and Institute for Economic Sciences, Belgrade and an alumna of LSE.

Cristóbal Garibay-Petersen is Fellow in European Philosophy in the European Institute at LSE.

This event is part of LSE's public event series - COVID-19: The Policy Response.

COVID-19 represents an enormous challenge for the social sciences to help governments and non-governmental organisations respond to the economic and societal consequences of the pandemic. Part of LSE's response to this challenge is a series of online public events that will take place over the Summer Term.

Why not visit the School of Public Policy COVID-19 Resource Centre.

This event in the series has been organised by the European Institute and LSE “Europe in Question” (LEQS) Discussion Paper Series.

The next event in this series will take place at 2pm on 16 June on COVID-19: the health policy and care response.

The LSE European Institute (@LSEEI) is a centre for research and graduate teaching on the processes of integration and fragmentation within Europe. In the most recent national Research Excellence Framework (REF 2014) the Institute was ranked first for research in its sector.

The LSE 'Europe in Question' Discussion Paper Series (@leqsLSE) was established in May 2009 to publish high quality research on Europe and the European Union from scholars across LSE and beyond.

The event will be based on the LEQS Discussion Paper by Professor Gerard Delanty. 'Six political philosophies in search of a virus: Critical perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic', which is free to download from the LEQS Website.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSECOVID19

Podcast & Video

A podcast of this event is available to download from Six Political Philosophies in Search of a Virus: critical perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic.

A video of this event is available to watch at Six Political Philosophies in Search of a Virus: critical perspectives on the coronavirus pandemic.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.