CONTEXT
This project explores the moral duties of individuals and states to protect people from loneliness and to help them guard against it themselves. Loneliness is defined here as the negative mental states (e.g. sadness, despair) people feel when they lack sufficient or meaningful relationships. Most liberal thinkers are skeptical of duties that would require adults to offer companionship to others, holding that individuals should be free to choose whether, and with whom, they socialize. John Stuart Mill famously defended the right to associate with whomever one prefers, a view echoed by David Miller, who stresses the importance of not being forced into associations against one’s will.
This liberal view of sociability remains influential in moral and political philosophy. However, recent findings from psychology and medical science challenge its adequacy. Chronic loneliness is widespread and harmful. Even before the pandemic, significant numbers of older adults in Europe and North America reported frequent loneliness. High-risk groups also include caregivers, people with disabilities, and adolescents—many of whom report feeling lonely often. The consequences of chronic loneliness include depression, dementia, and poor physical health. It also imposes serious economic costs, with one country (the UK) estimating billions lost annually due to loneliness-related ill health. These concerns highlight the urgent need to reassess the liberal stance on sociability, a task that philosophers have largely overlooked.
OVERALL OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED IMPACT
Drawing on philosophical, psychological, and sociological work, this project aims to clarify the moral responsibilities individuals and states have in preventing and addressing loneliness. In so doing, it will also consider whether certain measures against loneliness may be morally problematic. For instance, some question the ethics of allowing people with severe dementia to interact with social robots they do not recognize as non-sentient. The project will culminate in the first normative theory of loneliness in academic literature. Through its publications, website, workshops, and teaching, it will help establish the ethics of loneliness and sociability as a new area within moral and political philosophy. Its outreach will also raise public awareness of the moral stakes of our social lives and bring philosophical insight to broader debates on loneliness and connection.
