The popular perception of taking offense is that it is a bad thing: at best, revealing a weakness of character, at worst, being a technique for shutting down debate and discussion. This lecture offers a defense of offense as a misunderstood emotion that deserves rehabilitation. Reflecting on jokes that have caused offense, I examine two mistaken beliefs about offense: the first, that taking offense is an expression of hurt feelings and reveals one’s vulnerability; the second, that offense tends to have catastrophic consequences. I will offer a different picture of what it is to take offense, as a far more domestic, if potent, piece of our social interactions and a way of resisting affronts to our social standing. I then turn to the aftermath of having given offense. I will discuss what does – and doesn’t – make for a good apology for having offended someone and what it is about jokes that might make them so prone to causing offense.

Register here to attend in person.

The lecture will also be live streamed on the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics YouTube channel.