Abstract
The pandemic rages on, bringing with it mass death and untold suffering. COVID-19 has revealed the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of social arrangements. As disease has spread familiar legal questions about the legitimate scope of government powers have come to the fore. Different legal orders have responded in different ways, helping, healing, mourning with their citizenry.
Not far below the surface of the death and suffering that surrounds us lurk questions of responsibility. Why did COVID 19 sweep the globe? Could more have been done to contain it? Who, if anyone, is to blame?
The papers collected in this issue explore questions of responsibility by turning to art and aesthetics. They show the power of humanistic inquiry to unearth new perspectives on enduring human questions.