Killing swiftly

This essay discusses the increase in the sense of vulnerability that many older people felt with the onset of COVID-19, which reverses the sense of security in old age which has been developing over recent decades. Pascal Bruckner’s book A Brief Eternity: The Philosophy of Longevity takes, as its starting premise, the idea that since 1945 “life has ceased to be short, as ephemeral as a passing train.” This was originally published in French in 2019 but, in the short interval since then, has become a very dubious proposition. The essay explores how attitudes towards mortality are changing among the elderly as life during COVID-19 once again takes on something of the sense of fragility that it possessed through most of history. © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Irene Gammel and Jason Wang;individual chapters, the contributors.