Can Citizens Be Friends?
Can Citizens Be Friends?
Civic Enmity and the Possibility of Civic Friendship in our
Hyper-Polarized Society
Tuesday May 2, 7:00 p.m.
In-Person at JTS
3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street)
New York City
How much divisiveness, anger, contempt, distrust, and fear can democratic citizens have for one another before a democratic society irreparably weakens? Political philosophers since Aristotle have wondered about what citizens owe one another; whether they ought to recognize and respect one another’s views, profound disagreements notwithstanding. The ideal of mutual respect among democratic citizens as a foundation for a thriving civil society is called “civic friendship.” Join us as we explore this idea and its potential for diminishing the “civic enmity” that afflicts the US today.
Organized by Alan Mittleman and Shira Billet
Sponsored by the JTS Hendel Center for Ethics and Justice and generously supported by the Fetzer Institute
Read an article about “civic friendship” written by our panelist Jason Scorza for the International Encyclopedia of Ethics.
Panelists
Molly Farneth, Associate Professor of Religion, Haverford College
Jason Scorza, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Fairleigh Dickinson University
Robert Talisse, Professor of Philosophy and Political Science, Vanderbilt University
Moderator: Arnold Eisen, Chancellor Emeritus and Professor of Jewish Thought
