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aboutthesephenomenawillbeneededasweslowlyprocesstheimpactofthe
COVID-19pandemic.
Illcitizens
AnalysingPlato)sconceptofillness,GáborBeteghhighlightshowtheillperson
withdrawsfrompoliticsandrefusestoparticipateindebate,apoliticalevent(Betegh
2020:228).Heconcludesthat,forPlatoandhiscontemporaries,thebody,withall
itsfailings,illnessesandageing,wasseenasanuisance,aburdenthatpreventsman
fromseeingthetruthandreality;Plato)sillnessmakesitimpossibleforhimtodo
whatheconsidersmostimportant:toengageinpoliticsandphilosophy(Betegh
2020:229).Finally,heconcludesthatthemainreasonwhyPlatoseesillnessasinher-
entlybadisbecauseitreducestheperson)sagency(Betegh2020:231).
Tistraditionofconsideringillpeopleunabletopursuereasonandbeingdomi-
natedby/atthemercyoftheirbodilyconditionhasremainedwithus.Intheduality
ofbodyandsoul,illness,andthepainandimpairmentsassociatedwithit,belongto
therealmofthebodyandareseenasanimpedimenttotheproperfunctioningof
thesoul,whichisdestinedtoengagein“higherthings”likephilosophyandpolitics.
Tisseeminglyirreconcilablesplitbetweenemotionandreasonhasthusbeenwith
ussincePlatoandAristotle,whodescribedthesephenomenaastwohorsespulling
inoppositedirections,andreasonasinherentlysuperiortoemotions(Vaidaand
Ormenişan2013,citedbyBereczky2019:51).Politicaldecisionmakers,evenaca-
demics,stillrelishtheideathathavinganddisplayingemotions(or,indeed,having
andacknowledgingabodywithweaknessesandneeds)isunprofessional.Infact,
thisseemstobeatooltodisempowerpatient(oranycivil)movementsbyquestion-
ingtheirseriousnessandrationality(Bereczky2019:51).
Reinforcingtheargumentaboutsplittingolundesirablecontentsasdescribed
above,thetraditionalseparationof“body”and“mind”seemstoworkasadefence
mechanismagainstanxietystemmingfromthehumancondition:bodyandmind
areinseparableandinfluenceeachother.
Illcitizensareseenaslessornotatallproductive,andalsoasimmatureand
childish,astheyarepronetoexpressemotionsandtorecountpersonalmisery.Cit-
izensexpressingtheirdiscontentorneedsbybiopoliticalmeans(suchasrefusing
vaccinesortreatment)arelabelledirresponsibleorsimplywronganduneducated.
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TamásBereczky
