Medical Workers as the Pharmakoi of 2020. The Pandemic in Poland through a Girardian Lens

Abstract

The article is an attempt to read the new pandemic situation in the context of René Girard’s thought. Unlike some other philosophical comments on the crisis, the author refrains from delivering the general philosophical assessment of the whole gamut of events on political, economic, or biological levels. Instead, the purpose of the essay is to put some philosophical-cultural light on the singular, yet chilling phenomenon of extreme social reactions to medical staff in Poland. To fulfill this moderate promise, Girardian anthropological concepts are engaged. The analysis is supported by a historical-cultural description of the Greek institution of a pharmakos as a historical memory most apposite for intelligibility of the present. This opens up a wider context of the cultural meaning of medicine.

Keywords

• rené girard
• scapegoat
• pharmakos
• mimesis
• plague
• medical staff