Introduction

Austin Sarat

doi:10.1017/CBO9781107479852.001

Introduction

The Meanings and Uses of Civility

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2014

Austin Sarat

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Austin Sarat

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Austin Sarat: Affiliation:
Amherst College, Massachusetts

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Summary

People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along?... Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out.

Rodney King, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Pbyi0JwNug&playnext=1&list=PLB874144170217AF6&index=15

Incivility isn’t just accepted these days – from celebrity news to TV shows – it’s glorified.

Kristen Powers, A Crisis of Civility

Civility may well be a virtue, but it is probably not a virtue that will be of much help in deciding the political questions that ultimately matter.

James Schmidt, Is Civility a Virtue?

Introduction

Today we are in another of those eras in which political leaders and commentators periodically bemoan a crisis of incivility. Throughout American history, the discourse of civility has proven quite resilient and concern for a perceived lack of civility has ebbed and flowed in recognizable patterns. Somehow, we continue to find ways to talk about civility and to warn of its demise.

Today we see civility eviscerated daily on cable TV. “Uncivil” has become synonymous with being wholly and closed-mindedly “partisan.” Today we witness the most vile and random destruction of human life in the name of one or another political cause. As a result, the claims of civility, and the call to restore civility, seem undeniably pertinent.

Type: Chapter
Information: Civility, Legality, and Justice in America , pp. 1 - 14

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107479852.001 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2014

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References

Sandel, Michael, Public Philosophy: Essays on Morality in Politics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2005), 54.

Schmidt, James, “Is Civility a Virtue?” in Civility, ed. Rouner, Leroy (South Bend, In: University of Notre Dame Press, 2000), 22.

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Carter, Stephen, Civility: Manners, Morals, and the Etiquette of Democracy (New York: Basic Books, 1998), 11.

Carter, Stephen, “Just Be Nice,” Yale Alumni Magazine (May 1988)Google Scholar

Rehnquist, William H., “Civility and Freedom of Speech,” Indiana Law Journal 49 (1973): 1.Google Scholar

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DeMott, Benjamin, “Seduced by Civility: Political Manners and the Crisis of Democratic Values,” The Nation 263 (December 9, 1996), 11–14, 13Google Scholar

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Summary

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