Strathmore Speaker Series Archive

Strathmore Speaker Series – Dr. Keith Bybee Asks “Is Civility Dead?”

by Ron Lombard

January 6, 2024

The Strathmore Speaker Series and Onondaga Free Library‘s April 2019 event featured Syracuse University’s Dr. Keith Bybee who asked “Is Civility Dead?” Many Americans today worry that politics is killing civility. But the concern over the decline of appropriate conduct runs deeper than the latest tweet or partisan shouting match. Public life, the workplace, social media — all seemed to be filled with insult and invective. To understand if civility is really under existential threat, we must consider, first, whether civility is even possible. And if it is possible, we must consider whether civility is desirable. Once we examine the possibility and desirability of civility, we will see that, paradoxically, the very things that make civility appear weak and ineffective, also account for civility’s power and appeal.