BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//events.la.psu.edu//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD DTSTART:20201101T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT DTSTART:20200308T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:5856-7051aec61a4292f6b8ce5d3c8321fbab@events.la.psu.edu DTSTAMP:20260607T132532Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20200206T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20200206T133000 SUMMARY:Chris Beem: Honesty Is a Democratic Virtue DESCRIPTION:\nMcCourtney Institute for Demoracy Managing Director Chris Beem will present a lecture on honesty and democatic virtues as part of the Rock Ethics Institute'\;s colloquium series:\n\nHannah Arendt sai d &ldquo\;truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other.&rd quo\; George Orwell said that political language &ldquo\;is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.&rdquo\; We all know thi s. Depending on whether the question involves them or their opponents\, politicians are shamelessly inconsistent. Politicians spin\, they answer the questions they want to answer instead of the one asked\, they beat talking points into the ground. And often&hellip\;they lie. \;\n\nBe cause the bar is so low\, the prospects for an ethics of political hones ty might appear to be a waste of time. But we can also set the bar even lower--in fact\, too low. Orwell and Arendt were realists about politics \, but they were also realists about the ways that authoritarians operat e. They knew that lies are one of the most important tools of democracy& rsquo\;s enemies. And for Arendt especially\, democracy presupposes some shared commitment to the truth. For citizens\, partisans and politician s\, telling the truth undermines the risk of tyranny. Therefore\, every time someone makes the never easy and often fraught choice to tell the t ruth\, they are playing a little part in sustaining democracy. \;\n\ nFor more details: https://events.la.psu.edu/event/chris_beem_honesty_is _a_democratic_virtue/ X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

McCourtney Inst itute for Demoracy Managing Director Chris Beem will present a lecture o n honesty and democatic virtues as part of the Rock Ethics Institute' ;s colloquium series:

Hannah Arendt said “truth and politics are on rather bad terms with each other.” George Orwell said that political language “is designed to make lies sound truthful and m urder respectable.” We all know this. Depending on whether the que stion involves them or their opponents, politicians are shamelessly inco nsistent. Politicians spin, they answer the questions they want to answe r instead of the one asked, they beat talking points into the ground. An d often…they lie. 

Because the bar is so low, the pros pects for an ethics of political honesty might appear to be a waste of t ime. But we can also set the bar even lower--in fact, too low. Orwell an d Arendt were realists about politics, but they were also realists about the ways that authoritarians operate. They knew that lies are one of th e most important tools of democracy’s enemies. And for Arendt espe cially, democracy presupposes some shared commitment to the truth. For c itizens, partisans and politicians, telling the truth undermines the ris k of tyranny. Therefore, every time someone makes the never easy and oft en fraught choice to tell the truth, they are playing a little part in s ustaining democracy. 

For more details: https:// events.la.psu.edu/event/chris_beem_honesty_is_a_democratic_virtue/ LOCATION:133 Sparks Building END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR