CHAPTER 8 COVID-19: THE DANGER OF BLINDLY APPLYING THE “STEEPEST CURVE”

Abstract

Drawing lessons from the first wave of Covid-19, and the management of the pandemic by the French health authorities, this article questions the “steepest curve” argument –an argument that consists, in a situation of radical uncertainty, and by “precaution”, in systematically projecting the worst-case scenario. But, is this rationale of anticipating the worst that might happen pertinent for dealing with crises? This is not what practices teach us, by which gentler slopes, “average” slopes, discovered day by day in the light of experience, have emerged. This article therefore aims to defend another paradigm in the management of uncertainty: that of a phronesis, a prudence guided by practices.