Maia Kiladze is an Associate Professor in the School of Science and Technology at the University of Georgia. She earned a Ph.D. in Life Sciences from Ilia State University (Tbilisi, Georgia) and has worked at the Department of Experimental Neurophysiology at the University Clinic of Bonn (Germany).Vladimer Luarsabishvili is a Professor of School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Caucasus University, Tbilisi, Georgia, and a visiting professor at the University of the Frontier, Temuco, Chile. He received a Ph.D. in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature from Madrid Autonomous University, Spain, and went onto postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. His recent publications include Ideas and Methodologies in Historical Research (2022), Rethinking Mamardashvili: Philosophical Perspectives, Analytical Insights (2022), Teoría de la interideidad. Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer y Miguel de Unamuno (2022), and Retórica Cultural: Metáfora, Contexto, Traducción. Las Voces de Rubén Darío, Miguel de Unamuno, Gabriel Aresti, Kirmen Uribe y Harkaitz Cano (2024).

In exceptional circumstances (and the COVID-19 pandemic certainly was such an exceptional circumstance) many of the little balances and equilibria of social life are broken. One can then see how fragile the ethical norms that supposedly hold up our societies are, and on the other hand the fears and violence that are hidden in normal circumstances emerge into the light. That is the theme of this book, as controversial as it is interesting. Prof. Dr. Gerardo López SastreUniversity of Castilla-La Mancha, SpainThe experiences from the Covid-19 pandemic have shown how seriously the freedoms and fundamental rights of individuals are at risk when governments cannot resist the temptation to respond to a health crisis with repressive measures that defy ethical and social norms previously accepted as immutable. The authors of this book express their deep concern about the increasing drift towards totalitarianism, even in democratic societies, under the pressure of mass panic fueled by politics and the media. Prof. Dr. Marco Kunz Université de Lausanne, Switzerland

• Introduction – Modern Life, Technological Advances, and Medicine. Ethical Norms, How They Change, and the Pursuit of Survival. The Individual and the Crowd – The Pandemic- Type of Society: The Individual, the Crowd, and the Authorities – The Post- Pandemic- Type of Society: The Individual, the Crowd, and the Authorities – Conclusions – Postscript – Index.