Discourse Ethics

We are communicative beings. We express feelings, state beliefs, and coordinate actions in language. Discourse is integral to our lives. And as with anything integral to our lives, it prompts ethical questions. Are there better and worse ways to participate in discourse, say respectfully or generously as opposed to abusively and deceptively? What is entailed in listening well and what are better and worse wells of handling disagreement when it arises? What kind of speech builds trust? What corrodes it? Are there any basic obligations that we have when we speak with others, say truth telling? Drawing upon multiple traditions and disciplines, Center faculty and fellows conduct research and offer programming committed to cultivating our ability to discourse in ways that are at once responsive, just, and transformative. 

Faculty Fellow Ben Stoff in conversation with students at the Center.