Offence Given and Offence Taken- Workshop

Funding Recipient: Dr. Lucy Elvis 

Participating Faculty: Dr Heike Felzmann and Prof. Felix Ó Murchadha 

Funder: College of Arts Sciences and Celtic Studies, Research Development Grant  

Offence is an increasingly prevalent social phenomenon that has received little philosophical analysis. To be offended or to take offence can have significant social power and incur severe professional and personal consequences. While a wide array of utterances, actions, creative outputs and personal beliefs are spoken of as sources of offence, spaces to meaningfully dialogue what offence may mean, discuss, respond to and handle potentially offensive content and how to identify spaces where offence ought to be avoided are few. To offend or be offended is an idea that has moved from the sphere of manners and social mores towards a tension-filled space in which neither the offended nor the offender are satisfied and understanding of offence itself is often not reached. 

This in-person one-and-a-half-day workshop will take place at the University of Galway on Thursday 30 and Friday 31st of May 2024.