What do we owe one another when we profoundly disagree? In an era of increasing political polarization, questions about civility have become ventral to public life. This workshop will foster moral reflection and thoughtful discussion on an issue of enormous public interest: How ought we to speak with whom we deeply disagree?
Snacks provided!
Free and open to UT Austin undergraduate or graduate students only.
Register to Attend Workshop Here
Additional questions to be explored include:
• Are we morally obligated to be civil to people who are uncivil to us?
• Are we sometimes justified in being uncivil if we believe it will advance other competing values, such as truth or justice?
• Does what civility requires of us change depending on where we are and to whom we are speaking?
• Can a person be uncivil by accident, or is incivility always intentional?
• Does civility limit the substance of what we can say to others, or only the manner in which we say it?
• Should universities, employers, or social media companies require people to communicate civilly in their own domains, and if so, what should those rules look
Workshop leaders will present competing perspectives and offer opportunities for group activities and discussion.
Workshop Leader:
Dr. Marie Newhouse (L), Senior Fellow, Civiitas Institute and an associate professor in law, philosophy, and public policy at the University of Surrey.
Marie Newhouse is a senior fellow at the Civitas Institute and an associate professor in law, philosophy, and public policy at the University of Surrey. A legal and political philosopher, Newhouse has written about the nature of legal wrongdoing, prerequisites for legal obligation, and the limits of state authority. She also writes about institutional ethics and is currently working on a new project about civil discourse in universities. Newhouse holds a JD from the University of Washington and a PhD in public policy from Harvard University. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a legal and policy analyst at the Cato Institute and as a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Studies.