French Literature Reviews - 2026

Aliocha Wald Lasowski, Serial Virus. A Philosopher's Perspective on the Crisis
Philosophy, Anthropology and Ideas

The coronavirus surprised the world with the suddenness of its emergence and the speed of its spread. Faced with a pandemic defined by rebounds, variants, lockdowns, peaks, and infection waves, Aliocha Wald Lasowski asks: what rhythm does this virus embody?

This striking essay on the seriality of the serial virus develops a Critique of Sanitary Reason across three parts: liberty, fear, and health. In the face of such viral dissemination, an ethics of responsiveness is required, drawing first and foremost on thinkers such as Kant, Nietzsche, Freud, Jonas, Sartre, and others.

Living with Covid-19 forces us to reinvent the tempos of our shared existence at the heart of democracy. The health emergency aims at nothing less than defending new policies of labor, health, and education.

The Author

A philosopher, journalist, and essayist, Aliocha Wald Lasowski is the author of some twenty books translated into several languages.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword

The Tempos of the Rythmovirus (rebound, wave, variant, vaccine)

Introduction

Never Have We Been More Free Than Under Global Lockdown

Dr. Gachet's Fatigue

The Fifty-Five Days of Wuhan

Thinking the Event of a Crisis

Between Body and Brain: From Computer Virus to Physical Virus

Facing Viral Globalism, Reinventing Relation

What Rhythmicity is the Coronavirus the Name Of?

V.I.R.U.S.: Violent and Rapid Irruption of Sanitary Urgency

Emmanuel Macron's Politics as Seen by the Philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre

Part One: Sigmund Freud

Giving Up the Enjoyment of Freedom: The Price to Pay to Save Lives?

Staying Home: Between Exclusion and Isolation?

Strategic Prudence or the Politics of Uncertainty

Confined at Home: The Domestic Space as an Exterior Space

Staying Home: Between Rescue and Protection?

At the Heart of the Psyche: The Possibility of Another World

The Bargaining Between Liberty and Security

Doing One's Homework

From Social Violence to Domestic Violence

Part Two: Hans Jonas

Facing the Virus, Is Fear a Good Counselor?

After the Terrorist Attacks, the Second Event of the Twenty-First Century Occurs

Communicating Less, Acting More

Didier Raoult: Whistleblower or Populist Virologist?

The Virtues of the Unforeseen

The Risk of World Destruction

Adapting to Live Differently in the Face of a Crisis

Fear Yes, But Not at Any Price

Responsibility as Ethical Vigilance

The Feeling of Fear Triggers a Thirst for Knowledge

Part Three: Georges Canguilhem

Is Health Everyone's Business, or Does It Concern Only the Sick?

Kant and the Smallpox Vaccine

Nietzsche: The Human at the Heart of Medicine, What Healing Means

The Precariousness of Life as a Philosophy

The Arbitrariness of Barrier Gestures and Social Interaction

What Becomes of a Life When Lived as an Awareness of Its Potential Disappearance?

Living in a Biological Society: The Health Defense Council

Medicine is a Philosophy of Life

Living in the Time of a Virus: Is It a Farewell to Normal Life?

Roland Barthes: Rhythms of Life and Death, Health and Illness

After the Virus, a New Politics of Care

Conclusion

Our Vulnerability, or How to Live with Catastrophe

Essays exploring the philosophical dimensions of public health crises draw upon longstanding intellectual traditions in European thought, where sudden disruptions to collective life prompt immediate reevaluations of social order and political obligation. Writers in this vein frequently engage with established thinkers to interpret contemporary anxieties and structural shifts. Such reflections situate current events within broader inquiries concerning governance, science, and human vulnerability. Readers interested in contemporary philosophy and the cultural impact of public health emergencies may find this volume relevant to their inquiries into modern crises.

The text addresses the rhythms and operational logics of the pandemic, organizing its reflections around the thematic pillars of liberty, fear, and health. Discussions touch upon domestic confinement, political rhetoric, and the psychological dimensions of living under constant viral threat, incorporating references to various canonical figures in philosophy and psychoanalysis. The work examines how populations navigate uncertainty, institutional controls, and the altered tempos of daily existence. Through these observations, the volume considers the broader implications of sanitary measures for democratic life and social relations.