# On Giving and Taking Offense with Emily McTernan ![Poster for Emily McTernan's event at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for Ethics](/sites/g/files/omnuum716/files/styles/hwp_5_4__480x385/public/2024-09/EmilyMcTernanEvent_0.png?itok=RAXibjKg) #### calendar\_today Date and Time **September 19, 2024** 04:30PM - 06:00PM EDT #### pin\_drop Location **Thompson Room, Barker Center** [12 Quincy St Cambridge, MA 02138 United States ]() [ Register here to attend in person arrow\_circle\_right ](https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/ev/reg/7d5zyng/lp/46c4b709-ac3e-4bd4-acaa-a6ca99c662a1) 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. [The lecture will also be live streamed on the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics YouTube channel.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmsofyWbAWE) See also:- [ Civil Discourse ](/event-categories/civil-discourse) Share on:- [ Facebook ](#) - [ Twitter ](#) - [ Linkedin ](#) Save: [ Add to calendar calendar\_today ](https://www.fas.harvard.edu/node/1186/event-feed.ics) Copy link link