The competing trends of normative ethics of the last decades can be basically reduced to an alternative to teleology and deontology. The generally accepted paradigm of teleology is the description and explanation of human activity (D’Oca, 2021). A person must act according to their goals and be guided by their own norms, values, and ideals. Teleology supports an activity guided by one’s personal goals and filled with meaning for a particular individual. Deontology, on the contrary, does not call for achieving individual well-being but aims to maximize the amount of public utility. Deontology is more in line with my position since I believe that social relations are the substantial basis of personality, the place of residence of its essence, qualities, and properties. All the aspirations of the individual are a fundamental form of the existence of social relations as a whole. Consequently, social values and goals for achieving the common good are more significant than individual ones.
Vaccination and wearing masks are a measure of caring for the surrounding people. Each member of society should participate in forming population immunity, eliminating the pathogen, and circulating the disease in the country. Thus, even if wearing a mask causes discomfort to a person, and they are opponents of vaccination, the individual must still perform these actions for the common good. The evidence of these conclusions is that with the help of a vaccine, humanity has already managed to defeat epidemics (for example, the measles epidemic). However, the coverage of vaccinated persons should exceed 90% of the population (Ban, 2019). Therefore, for the common and personal good aimed at combating the disease, one should be vaccinated and wear masks, even if this contradicts personal beliefs.
References
Ban, M. D. (2019). The human security discourse: Balancing deontology with teleology. International Relations & European Studies, 11(12), 195-206.
D’Oca, F. R. (2021). Deontology and teleology in morality of Anselm of Canterbury. Journal of Teleological Science, 1(1), 98-116.