Keywords

1. Guiding principle of civility: Civility is mutual respect within a shared responsibility.
2. Levels of civility: Civility exists to varying degrees and with varying degrees of security: absent, insecure/low, open, secure, developed.
3. General welfare function: The higher the prevailing level of civility, the greater the welfare opportunities for the general public.
4. Variable space: Interaction logics, forms of interaction, and levels of civility mutually influence each other, thus forming a variable space of civility. This can lead to more or less dynamic, self-developing processes.
5. Social spacetime: Actors with low levels of civility tend to think in a narrower spatial and temporal framework, while those with higher levels of civility tend to think in a broader spatial and temporal framework. Since this influences their actions, a social spacetime emerges with varying levels of civility.
6. Human learning: Whether and how individuals learn is an open question, even more so whether and how humanity as a whole (collectively) learns quickly enough to survive.
7. Civility analysis: How actors relate to each other can be analyzed universally from a civility-theoretical perspective.
8. Predictability and ability to act: Sociopolitical processes are inherently open-ended. While they can be assessed more or less accurately depending on the given and foreseeable contextual conditions, they can never be predicted with certainty. Well-informed and determined actors have a chance of success in open-ended processes, even in seemingly hopeless cases.
9. Civil ethics: Actors operate responsibly according to the given and foreseeable conditions, based on civil ethics.
10. Civil navigation: The essence of civil navigation lies in orienting oneself as effectively as possible in a complex and constantly changing environment and behaving accordingly.
11. Civility policy is a policy aimed at preserving and promoting civility to the greatest extent possible. It operates with particular sensitivity and a navigational approach, especially in complex and changing environments; however, it can also influence other actors and framework conditions in a targeted manner.
12. Theory development: Since its initial presentation as a theory of civil modernity (2018), the theory of civility has been continuously developed. It can and should become part of general human learning.
13. Accessibility: All texts and videos on the theory of civility are freely accessible, currently primarily via the Civility gUG website. This free accessibility should be maintained and promoted to the best of our ability, by whatever means necessary, even under difficult conditions.