What does the civility of good manners have in common with the civilityof civil society? Let me begin by saying that both postulate a minimum dignity of all citizens. The dignity which is accorded to a person who is the object of civil conduct or goodmanners is dignity of moral worth. Good manners postualte the moral dignity of the other person who is seen face-to-face, and in public discourse about individuals and groups who are not immediately present. It makes no reference to his merit ordignity in general, in all other situations. Civility as a feature of civil society considers otheers as fellow-citizens of equal dignity in their rights and obligations as members of civil society;l it means regarding other persons, including one's adversaries, as members of the same inclusive cullectivity, i.e., as members of the sme society, even though they belong to different parties or different religious communities or to different ethnic groups.--Edward Shils, "The Virtue of Civility," 320-55, 328
The Virtue of Civility (Liberty Fund ed. 1997)
Sunday, August 09, 2009
Glenn Reynolds Asks: Remember When Protest Was Patriotic?
Link. Yes, and lynching, too.