The Art of Blaming and Forgiving – The 2023 Adams Symposium for the Humanities

Featuring Miranda Fricker, Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director, New York Institute for Philosophy, New York University

The sixth annual symposium in honor of distinguished UNC philosopher Maynard Adams (1919–2003) will focus on the emotionally charged dimensions of difficult social relationships: What is the point of blaming someone after they have wronged you? Does blame help the wrongdoer see the moral significance of what they have done?

The symposium will begin Friday, March 24 at 5:30pm with keynote speaker Miranda Fricker, professor of philosophy and co-director of the New York Institute for Philosophy at New York University. Her lecture, “The Art of Blaming and Forgiving,” will explore these questions to suggest how the experience of blaming and then forgiving can become an interpersonal art that creates shared moments of moral understanding.

The symposium continues on Saturday, March 25 with two panels of faculty colleagues and public humanists will respond to Professor Fricker’s themes and discuss why it is difficult to forgive wrongdoers. Panelists will be announced shortly.

The Adams Symposium is free and open to the public. Both days will take place at the Kenan Conference Center (click for map) at the Kenan-Flager Business School on UNC’s Campus. No registration is required is required for in-person attendance.

Carolina Public Humanities thanks the Taylor Charitable Trust for generously supporting this year’s Maynard Adams Symposium