The Phenomenology of Social Distancing in the Covid-19 Pandemic

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This PhD research project will examine how people's experience of their environment and their body changes in response tosocial distancing, using a phenomenological methodology. It will do this in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic and theaccompanying social distancing measures introduced in response, but will also show more generally how the threat of contagioncan alienate people from each other and create an increased awareness of the body as a biological entity, resulting in a loss ofbodily transparency and increased bodily objectification. The intention is not to provide an empirical account of the public healthbenefits of social distancing, but to provide a detailed philosophical account of how people respond to social distancing situationsby identifying and analysing their individual and shared experiences. This research has the potential to influence policy decisionsabout the measures taken to control the spread of infectious disease, and may influence other areas of social research throughproviding a detailed account of how people's relationship with the world and others in it changes in response to social distancing.