Learn · TED

Talk14 min

Is civility a sham?

Teresa Bejan · TED

Watch At TED

About

What exactly is civility, and what does it require? In a talk packed with historical insights, political theorist Teresa Bejan explains how civility has been used as both the foundation of tolerant societies and as a way for political partisans to silence and dismiss opposing views. Bejan suggests that we should instead try for "mere civility": the virtue of being able to disagree fundamentally with others without destroying the possibility of a common life tomorrow. (This talk contains mature language.)

The talk

  1. Is civility a sham? 14 min · TED's player

Credits and licence

Institution
TED
Department
TED Salon Brightline Initiative
Speaker
Teresa Bejan
Year
2018
Level
For everyone
Language
English
Subjects
Society and politics
Source
TED
Licence
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, as TED states it. Non-commercial use only, and no changed versions. TED's terms
Attribution
TED Talks are licensed by TED under Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 International and are shown here in TED's own player, as TED's usage policy asks.
Who can watch
TED gives no rating. Invisible Network shows it to Teens profiles and older, judged from what the source says about it. How courses are placed